Through The Hoop
by Halogod97
Summary: When Olly, Sam and Ben join their local basketball team, they have no idea just how hard it will be and how quickly they will have to grow! Faced with challenges on a scale up to the power of Generation of Miracles, how will they cope?
1. Introduction

Through The Hoop

Chapter 1

Introduction

 **Don't know how this got deleted before, but I'm gonna reupload the first two chapters. Also I've decided to work on this and O and O at the same time. It might be kinda difficult and I might end up taking time to post chapters, but I wanna try it. Anyway, here's the intro, the basketball game starts in the next chapter.**

Opening Music: Kuroko No Basket OP 1

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

Me, Sam and Ben stood outside the door to the basketball changing room in the leisure centre. After my doctor had told me during my sixth month check up that I needed to get more exercise to keep my back from getting sore after the surgery, I had decided to take up basketball. It had taken a couple of months, but I was finally happy enough with my skill level to be confident in joining Haverhills official under twenties basketball club. Over the last two months, Sam and Ben had been practicing with me over the previous month, at first just doing it so is have someone to play with, but soon their skills came a level where they too wanted to join the club. We were slightly worried we wouldn't get in, we expected the club to have many members, but we went all the same.

"So, it's finally time..." Sam mumbled to himself as we stood there, probably picturing himself as a star player in the future. "All the time we spent practicing has been for this, let's make sure we impress the coach."

"What if we don't impress him enough?" I worryingly said, not wanting my time training to be for nothing. "If he's got a lot of members in his club, we might not be good enough for him to let us in."

"I wouldn't worry about that, you at the very least are good enough to get in." Ben reassured me. "I've got my awesome dunks to show off, so...Sam might not get in."

"Hey!" Sam snapped at him, angry at his brothers mean taunting. He didn't argue any further however, as the two of them noticed I had already stepped in front of them and was knocking on the door. After I stepped back, there was the sound of someone running over from inside the room, then the door opened.

"Hey, are you here to join the basketball team?! Please say yes!" The guy who had opened the door said, seeming desperate. The guy was about the same age as us, but a lot taller than me and Sam, just about meeting eye to eye with Ben. His hair was black and ruffed, a pair of quaint glasses resting on his nose. He was already in his full basketball outfit, a tank top and shorts with cool looking trainers. The colours of the team were white with strips of orange around the edges. He looked fairly athletic, but also had a lean body structure.

"Umm...yeah we are here for that." I answered, taking a few seconds to do so due to the suddenness of him opening the door.

"Thank god!" He inexplicably exclaimed, raising his arms as he cheered. "We've been low on players for weeks, ever since the bulk of them turned twenty!"

"Wait, we though you had plenty of members." Sam said, the three of us surprised by that fact. "We were actually worried we wouldn't be able to get in because of it."

"Like I said, a bunch of people left." The guy said, seeming to be depressed by the mere memory of it, his body slouching then straightening up as he continued. "But we're all good now since you three are joining, we might be able to get into some actual games now! Although we won't be able to go into any official games since we still don't have enough members to sub out many times, but I might be able to sort out some special friendly matches with some adjustments to the player count..." Snapping out of his train of thought as he realised we were all standing and waiting for him to tell us his name, he smiled as wide as he good and said, "I'm Dick."

All three of us burst into uncontrollable laughter at that. First Sam started, then I began to laugh at the sound of him laughing and soon was chuckling too. "Dick?!" He cried out between laughs. "Is that a nickname?"

"No, it's my real name." Dick responded very seriously, looking very peeved off that we were laughing at his name. "My dad picked it."

Once we had calmed down, we introduced ourselves to Dick one by one, telling him about the time we had spent training to join the club. After that, he escorted us into the changing rooms, where two other members of the team were sitting tying up their shoelaces. "This is William." Dick introduced, pointing to very spotty, thin and tall teenager to the left. "And this is Stephen."

"Hi there." William said somewhat shyly. Despite being so tall he seemed so timid, perhaps because his acne was so bad. My mind went back to a time when mine was even worse and I shuddered. "Are they joining the team, Dick?"

"Yeah, we're finally gonna have enough to sort out that deal with the team I told you about." Dick told him, his face brightening up at the good news. It was then that Stephen walked up to me, a strange look on his face as he said my name.

"Olly?"

It took me a second, it really did. He looked so different than what he had the last time I saw him. Stephen had been the name of one of my friends back in primary school, about 7 or 8 years ago. When we had gone on to secondary school, I had gone to a different place than everyone else and so we hadn't seen each other since then. It was him that was stood in front of me right now, I suddenly recognising him after a few seconds. "Stephen! I can't believe it's you! How have you been?" I asked him, wondering if I was in a dream.

"Oh, I've been plenty fine, just as you probably remember me." Stephen answered, looking very pleased to see me. "So, you decided to join the basketball team with your friends?"

"Yeah, where's the coach?" I questioned next, having been wondering from the moment we walked in, since everyone in the room was wearing basketball outfits.

"I'm the coach." Dick plainly told me, as if it was obvious.

"Wait, I assumed you were the captain." Sam told him, saying what Ben and me were thinking.

"I am the captain and the coach." Dick quite bluntly replied, sounding as if this wasn't the first time someone was surprised to hear it.

"Is that allowed?" Ben wondered out loud, neither me or Sam having heard of such a thing before either.

"Well since we've got such a shortage of people, it's all right for friendly matches." Dick explained, motioning to the other door with his hand. "Well, let's go see what you three can do."

Following that, we were set up in a three on three match against Dick, Stephen and William, they testing our skills for the next thirty minutes or so. It quickly became clear what our strong points were, so Dick went to take a quick phone call whilst we continued two on three for a while. Even while at that disadvantage, Stephen and William held their own, keeping the score even.

After another ten minutes, Dick returned with his phone in his hand, gesturing for us to stop playing and come on over. Obediently, we ran over to him, wondering what news he had. "I've got some good news for all of us, and some not so good news." He said, not waiting to hear what we wanted to hear first before he continued. "Good news is I got us a match. There's a team of players within the same county willing come and play a six player game, meaning each team will have one player on the bench to substitute. The bad news...they're really good. They came fourth in the regional championship last year."

After a quick discussion, we all agreed that we would go forward with the match. We knew it would be difficult, but most teams would've turned down the offer of they couldn't use all their players and it was a friendly match anyway, so it didn't matter if we lost. That said, I knew we were all feeling competitive regardless.

The next day the two teams gathered on the indoor basketball court of the leisure centre, six players on each side. The limited stands for the lowly funded court were seated with the families of the players, our families included in the crowd. We all sat in a line on our bench, preparing on the final moments we had before the match would begin. Looking up from tying my shoes, I saw someone I knew on the opposing team. Aidan Foo. He had been a member of my class back when I was in secondary school, one of the more popular guys. He looked just the same as always, except a little more mature. He saw me too as I looked at him, but either didn't recognise me or didn't care, because he went jogging back to his team without any sign that he had.

"This isn't going to be an easy game, they've got a team of skilled players, even if it is only six of them." Dick said from beside me, drawing my attention away from Aidan. "First they've got Aidan, he's a great shooter both with dunks and outside shots. His one weakness is passing, so keep that in mind. He can receive a pass but once has the ball his only use it shooting and dribbling, so be sure to mark him, maybe even double team him."

Dick was speaking to the whole team now, all of us leaning forward in our seat and listening closely to his instructions. He really had thought out the match extensively, analysing every player. "Their second player is Cole, he's an excellent passer, watch out for his throws and move quickly to steal the ball. Then there's...Garth. He's ridiculously good at defending, with that large body of his. The other three are not to be underestimated. They've got skill in defending and passing so that Aidan can take shots, he'll probably stay near our hoop so he doesn't have to dribble too far, since he can't pass. They're also not bad at shooting themselves, so don't assume shutting Aidan down will necessarily stop them."

"What about us?" I asked him when he finished, the rest of the team looking quite worried. "Weigh our assets against them, what've we got?"

Not expecting that sort of question, Dick had to look down at the notepad on his lap for answers, where he had noted down all the teams skills. "Well, you've got some skills with redirecting the ball, we can use that for steals and advanced passes. Ben's proven he can dunk like a champ, so combine you two and we've got a combination that'll get us a few points at least. Sam's pretty good at straight shots, so we can use him to get the ball around and pass it to you for redirection. Then these two..." Dick stopped mid sentence, trailing off as he looked over to Stephen and William, who were arguing over a pack of mints. "Those two are decent at everything, but not excelling at anything in particular. I guess they can stay on defence."

Stephen and William didn't seek to notice their captains mediocre assessment of their skills, still squabbling. At the refs call however, five members of each team rushed onto the court and got into formation, Dick staying on our bench and Garth staying in theirs. Ben and Aidan stood opposite each at the centre line, ready to knock the ball their teams way when it was served. "I remember you, Ben." Aidan greeted in a big headed manner, as if sure he would win. "I played basketball with you a couple of times in school, kicked your arse of course."

"It'll be different this time, I've been practicing for a month." Ben retorted, getting fired up by the preliminary taunting.

"Oh that's cute." Aidan replied mockingly as the ref threw the ball into the air above them and blew the whistle.

"I've been training for four years."

END OF CHAPTER ONE


	2. The First Half

Through The Hoop

Chapter 2

The First Half

 **Just a quick notice that I'll be working on uploading what I have of this so far (11 chapters) alongside my other fanfic. I have big plans for both of them.**

Opening Music: Kuroko No Basket

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

"I've been training for four years."

As soon as the ball was served into the air above their heads, both Ben and Aidan jumped up, holding their arms above themselves. For a slow motioned moment, they hung in mid jump, then Aidan smacked his hand into the ball and sent it over into their team. Ben couldn't believe what he had just seen, he wouldn't have reached the ball first if he had a good few more seconds. Not only was Aidan jumping higher despite using less force, he was faster too.

After being hit, the ball soared through the air and landed safely in the hands of Cole. "Damn!" Ben cursed as he fell back down to the ground and landed on his feet. Remembering Dicks speech beforehand, Cole was an excellent straight passer. Sure enough, Cole shot the ball straight forward at high speed, sending all the way down into our half of the court. By the time Ben had turned around to see who it was going to, Aidan had already made it to our hoop, having moved so fast our players didn't have time to even move before he was there. "Damn, how's he there already?!" Ben thought to himself as Aidan caught the ball, the rest of us only just turning around. Before we could move to stop him, Aidan had jumped up and dunked the ball through the hoop and the net. The electronic scoreboard showed 00:02 in their favour barely ten seconds into the game.

"How did he do that?" Sam exclaimed, just as shocked and confused as the rest of us as Aidan went back to his team and left us to throw in the ball from under our hoop. "He got to our end so quickly!"

"On top of that, that guy Cole passed the ball across most of the court." Stephen added. "He really is as formidable at straight passes as Dick said.

We knowing we had to quickly get back to the game, we had Sam take the responsibility of throwing the ball back in. We knew from training he was the best normal passer we had, so he was the best choice for the task. We had briefly discussed an idea before getting into formation, all we needed was to make sure the ball didn't fall into the hands of the other team. Sam stood on the line under the hoop, Aidan standing a ways opposite him, primed and ready to get the ball. Stephen and Ben were marked by enemy players, having been picked out as the two strongest looking, Cole and the remaining player being ready to step in Aidan couldn't catch the ball. They had, however, made a mistake. It wasn't that they hadn't marked William, he wasn't a threat to them just yet in this scenario, they should've marked me.

Music: http/youtu.be/cVKAl3lWrrQ

The instant Sam threw the ball, I could see Aidan was going to try to catch it. He had moved in front of William, who he thought was the intended target. He was wrong, the throw was a dupe to get him to try and steal the ball so that I could step in and take it away from him. Just as the ball was about to land safely in his hands, I appeared in front of him and smacked it, redirecting it to the left. Aidan saw my face as the I zipped past him and suddenly recognised me, gasping as he turned and and saw me running after the ball, which was in Williams hands.

Reaching the half court line, William was caught in a mark by one of the opposing. He tried to get around him but wasn't quick enough, and then another player had approached him from behind, double teaming him. He did the only thing that came to mind and threw the ball up in the air, hoping somebody on our would catch it. Unfortunately Cole was the one under the ball when it started descend, he holding his hands up in the air to catch. Before he did though, I appeared next to him and smacked my hand into the ball whilst it was still in mid air, knocking it to the right side of the court where Stephen was positioned. He stuck his hand out from behind the person marking him and caught it, dribbling away with a player on his tail as I ran down too, leaving Cole in the dust.

"What is this guy?" Cole thought to himself as he watched me zoom away. "He's super quick on his feet and he can effectively redirect the ball!"

Stephen noticed he was being gained on and threw the ball to Sam, who caught it perfectly and then threw it on the direction of Ben, who was right by the opposing teams hoop. Aidan then suddenly ran in front, ready to intercept the ball and get it back on the other end of the court. Just before he grabbed it, I appeared in front of him, the ball catching on my fingertips. Leading the ball with just my fingers, I spun around, passing the ball over Aidan's shoulder. Ben caught it perfectly, wasting no time in jumping up and performing a one hand dunk. The scoreboard changed to 02:02 with the time left in the first quarter on nine minutes.

The families of our team could be heard cheering from the shoddily built stands, the opposing families scowling and cursing. I took a moment to breath as Cole went to throw the ball in for their team, slightly panting. The manoeuvres have taken a lot out of me, I wasn't sure if I could keep up such a pace. Aidan stopped by me as he jogged past, the rest of both our teams getting into position. "So, you play basketball now?" He said to me, barely sweating whilst I was breathing hard. "Your coach made a mistake, letting a short guy like you on the team. Our defence are too tall for a guy like you."

"I will get past your defences." I stated bluntly, he raising an eyebrow in doubt. "This is my chance to prove what I can do, so I'm going to beat you."

Smiling at the ridiculousness of my statement, Aidan continued jogging down the court until he reached the outside line just before they hoop box, calling out to all his team. "Let's step it up a notch, guys. Show them what we're really made of!"

Right on cue, the opposing teams formation suddenly changed. Each of their free players marked ours, I being the only one free to move. "Man to man?" Dick said out loud, knowing the strategy all too well. "Olly's got no one to pass to and he can't shoot all too well unless he's close, then he'd have to jump to reach. They're trying to isolate him."

Coke threw the ball to the player marking William, who despite his efforts couldn't get even a hand on the ball. The player tossed the ball to another, Cole coming back onto the playing field, then dribbled forward before throwing it to a player on the left side. I got in the way of the throw and grabbed the ball, but then had nowhere to go with it. All the other players on our team were still being marked by the opposing team. Aidan was the only one not busy marking and was right in front of me, they'd made sure it was just between me and him, my teammates not being able to get past the defenders.

"You won't get past me." He declared confidently, I holding the ball in two hands and standing still. "I'm mainly known on this for my shooting skills, but I'm a good defender too, as you'll find out as soon as you make a move."

I stayed silent and still for a moment as the clock ticked down, trying to think of what to do. The timer hit eight minutes as I came up with a plan, then I motioned as if I was going to start dribbling from my right hand. Aidan immediately reached out his hand to steal the ball when it came down, but it didn't. Taking advantage of him lunging towards my right, I put my hand behind my back and lightly threw ball to my left, then caught it with my other hand. Aidan was off balance for just a second because of his attempt to steal the ball from me and I zipped past him, dribbling the ball with him on my tail until I was close to the hoop. I knew I wouldn't be able to jump quite high enough to dunk it, so instead I stood on my tiptoes and threw the ball towards the hoop. I thought for a moment that it would actually go in, then Aidan was in the way, jumping up higher than I could at my best. He smacked the ball away from the hoop, watching my face as he did so.

Getting around me easily, he got control of the ball and started to move his way up the court to the other end. I tried to keep up with him but couldn't. When intercepting a pass it was different, I could swiftly get into position and stick out a hand, but I was no good in a chase. My teammates couldn't help me either, they were all still marked. Aidan was at the outer line long before I could catch up to him, and jumped, leaning backwards slightly while he threw the ball. A fadeaway. The ball went cleanly through net, Aidan scoring three points for his fadeaway and making the score 02:05 in their favour.

The time left in the first quarter was seven minutes and thirty seconds, but I was already panting heavily. My play style wasn't one that normally tired me out, but having to race Aidan along the court had had an effect on me. I could feel sweat on my skin, more than I knew I should have had at that point. I was the only one sweating, I noticed, among all the players on the court. I saw Aidan muttering something to Cole as Sam got into position to throw the ball back in, then Cole relayed the message to the other three members. This time they weren't marking the entire team, only Ben and me, probably recognising our potential to score from earlier. Cole and another player were in our half of the court were most of our team was, Aidan being right in front of Sam.

It wasn't an illegal tactic or a foul, standing in front of the about to throw the ball back in. What Aidan was doing was allowed, but it was a little dirty. He was so close that Sam would have no way of shooting over him would have to go around. When he tried passing to William on the right, Aidan's hand shot out and grabbed the ball, his feet completely still. He then jumped straight up and dunked the ball for two points, making the score 02:07. Sam picked up the ball again to throw it back in, and Aidan was once again right front of him, all his teammates in the same positions as well.

By this point their general tactic for this game was clear. They were trying to bully us, push us into situations where we wouldn't be able to prevent them getting the ball. It was a completely legal strategy, but we found it damningly annoying. Sam tried passing left to Stephen this time, but Aidan caught the ball and dunked it again, making the score 02:09.

Sam obviously had no idea what to do, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. Aidan was standing right in front of him again, making their strategy clear. Every time their team scored, Aidan would stand in Sam's way, making it near impossible for him to throw the ball in without Aidan getting it. He would then dunk and repeat the process, it was a dangerous trap and if they didn't escape it soon, they'd be destroyed in the first quarter. Panicking, Sam passed right again, only resulting in a another dunk which raised the score to 02:11. Sam was the only one who could think of a way out of this situation, since if any of us told him what to do Aidan would hear us and counter. Sam really needed to calm himself down and think of a way out.

After a short moment, I saw a small smile in the corner of Sam's mouth. Aidan saw it too, being unnerved by the sudden confidence. Sam then threw the ball one more time, not left, not right, but through Aidan's legs. As he realised what had happened just underneath him, the ball bounced up and was caught by William, Stephen by his side. Their free player tried to get in Williams way, only for him to pass the ball over to Stephen, who then passed it in my direction. The player marking me thought I was still behind him, so was shocked to see that I had worked my way around and gotten in front, it sure taught him to pay more attention to his mark.

Catching the ball with one hand whilst looking at the player as if to mock his performance, I passed the ball behind my back. The player marking Ben thought it was coming straight for him, but it went under his legs as well, Ben catching it. He then immediately went for the hoop, dunking it in the for two points and making the score 04:11.

Our families let out another round of cheers at the display, but we knew there was far to go. We were still six points behind, with five minutes twenty left on the timer. If we didn't score some more points, Aidan's team would control the first quarter. We were starting to get past them a little more effectively, we just needed to keep it up for the rest of the quarter.

Of course, we tried our hardest to do so, but it didn't go as well as we wanted it to. The score at the end of the first quarter was 12:20. We had been able to get about the same number of shots on target as they had, but they still had the lead since we couldn't close the point gap. Luckily for us, with the end of the first quarter came a two minute break, time to strategise with Dick.

"Listen, we're doing good out there offensively. The problem is our defence." Dick told us as he went through what he wanted us to do in the second quarter. "Aidan keeps on scoring, he's getting three pointers every so often too. On top of that their defence is a lot more solid than ours, so it's difficult to get any shots in and close the gap."

"Can you tell us what to do instead of telling us everything we're doing wrong?" Stephen groaned, wiping his forehead with a towel. "It's not gonna help morale this way."

"You must have some ideas, Dick. You're good like that." William added, taking a long gulp of water.

"Listen, Aidan's the big threat here. Nullify him and it'll be a lot easier to close the point gap." Dick explained, having a plan ready for us to put into action. "Cole's passing is also a problem, and their defence. Here's what we'll do..."

Dick then went on to tell us our strategy for the second quarter, all of us listening closely. While that was happening, Aidan's team were relaxing, confident they would be able to keep their lead. Aidan had slung a towel around his neck and was staring at her team from across the court, Cole and the yet to play Garth sitting on the bench. "Aidan, it ain't nice to try and eavesdrop, come sit down." Cole scolded, being his senior by a year.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, just wondering if they've got a plan." Aidan retorted, deciding to remain where he was. "Anyway Cole, what's our strategy for the second quarter?"

"What we've been doing so far has been working, so I say we stick with that." Cole suggested, being the member of their team with the most brains. "If things get rough and we want to widen the point gap, I guess we could use the redirection chain."

"Yeah, that'd confuse 'em." Aidan agreed, holding his water bottle against his forehead as he saw the ref getting ready to begin the second quarter. "Olly thinks his passing is something, wait till he sees that..."

"Put me on in the second half." Came words from Garth, who was the typical strong silent type. It was the first thing he'd said all game, Aidan supposed he had an itch to play. "If you put me on, they won't be able to score."

Smiling at his teammates big headed attitude, he thinking exactly the same, Aidan dropped his water bottle on the ground carelessly and threw his towel off behind him as the ref signalled that the break was over. "Yeah," He concurred. "It'll be like hitting a brick wall."

END OF CHAPTER TWO


	3. A Back Breaking Jump

Through The Hoop

Chapter 3

A Back Breaking Jump

 **Can't think of anything to say here, so bleh. Here's the next chapter.**

Music: Kuroko No Basket OP 1

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

The ref blew the whistle to signal the start of the first quarter, throwing in the ball from the side as once again Ben and Aidan were ready to compete over it in the centre. Both of them reached out their hands, but this time Ben got to it first, Aidan scowling at him in surprise. Ben hit the ball back to me, I swiftly turning and passing it to Sam, who started dribbling towards the enemy hoop. Aidan immediately started to go after him, but was stopped by William in front of him and Stephen behind him. "A double team?!" He exclaimed, although being somewhat flattered that they would put two of their players to the task of stopping him.

Cole soon stepped in Sam's way as he approached the outside line, blocking his path and reaching out to steal the ball. As his hand touched it, I came and smacked it from the side, sending it flying to the left where Ben caught it. He dribbled briefly before being blocked by two of the opposing teams players, the third marking me. Aidan watched helplessly as Ben jumped at the outside line and took a shot. "A three pointer? From the guy who's only done dunks so far?" Cole thought out loud, doubting the ball would go in.

He was right, the ball hit the edge of the hoop and rebounded, but I was there. My agility was too much for the person marking me to handle, especially since they had been distracted by Bens shot. I got my hand under the ball as it fell and dunked it back in. "An alley oop?! I heard Aidan say in shock as the score turned to 14:20. He obviously hadn't been expecting me to score.

Acting fast to get back into the game, Cole shot the ball straight at one of their players. I appeared in front out of nowhere, my lean and small body allowing me agility yet again, and knocked the ball to the left side. Sam caught it and did a accurate straight shot pass to Ben, who was now right by the hoop again. He jumped up high for the dunk, Cole jumping up in his way to block it. Despite that, Ben still managed to get the ball in, changing the score to 16:20 at the nine minute mark.

Going back into the same position to throw the ball back in again, Cole saw that I was standing ready to redirect the ball once again. We had trapped them in the same scenario they had trapped us in earlier, no matter where Cole passer, I would redirect the ball to one of our players, who would then pass to Ben for him to dunk it. Cole frowned at me, noticing Aidan still being double teamed, and warned, "Don't assume you can win just because Aidan's out of the picture, we've got more strategies that just him."

Copying our earlier play, Cole then passed the ball through my legs, one of their players catching it on the other side. The player dribbled down the centre until being blocked by Sam, then passed the ball to Cole, who made an impressive straight shot pass to Aidan, who had stuck his hand out of the side of the double team. He then jumped high over William and Stephen, looking to shoot from the outside line. I was there though, knocking the ball from his hands with one swift movement.

The ball fell into Williams hands, who passed straight to Sam. He dribbled up the court for a minute before being stopped by a player. Seeing me out of the corner of his eye, he passed the ball behind him, I catching it and quickly tossing it past the player. Ben caught the ball and prepared to dunk again, his jump being blocked by another player and the ball being knocked away. Stephen caught the rebound on the outside line and got to his tiptoes for a three pointer, throwing the ball long. The shot bounced off the hoop, but Ben was there again and dunked it in another impressive alley oop combo. The score was now at 18:20 at the eight minute ten mark.

Not wasting any time, so much so we were caught a little off guard, the player below the hoop caught the ball and passed it towards Cole, who hit it with the back of his hand and sent it diagonally across the court. We followed the ball to another player, but they also backhanded it, sending it back to the other side. That player also performed a backhand, the ball finally landing in Aidan's hands, he scoring a shot from the outside line. The score changed to 18:23.

"What was that play?" I mumbled to myself, never having seen anything like it before. They had sent the ball diagonally across the court at unbelievable speeds, turning it into a blur, and then Aidan had managed to score a shot from the outside line in all the chaos. Our team barely had time to react to it, let alone stop it.

"That was our redirection chain." Aidan told me as he jogged past on his way back into position, a smug look on his face. "You think your special passes and redirections are special, but you're not the only one who can do it. All of our team members can do it one after the other, sending the ball on an untraceable path to me, then I get it through the hoop."

"I'll find a way around it." I promised him, a stern look on my my face.

"I doubt that. Even with your impressive speed and agility, you can't keep up with the redirection chain." He responded stubbornly before continuing on his way. I had to prove him. I was the only one on our team with the agility to stop a play like that, I was the team's hope.

As Sam took the ball and got ready to throw it back in, we noticed that Aidan's team wasn't going for the strategy that involved trapping him and repeatedly scoring dunks. They had gathered that it wouldn't work anymore and had changed up their tactics, all of them now standing in a new formation. The three players we didn't know the names of were standing on our half of the court, whilst Cole stood right behind them and Aidan stood right by their hoop as if he was planning to play defence. It didn't make sense to us. Aidan was better suited to shooting and since he apparently couldn't pass to save his life, he'd have to run all way down the court with the ball. It was ridiculous to think he'd get all that way without being stopped.

As we swept the thoughts from our mind for the time being and focused on the game, Sam threw the ball in to play, William catching it easily and turning round. Two of the three players were immediately on him, the third going to the other side, ready to be the recipient of a long pass from his teammates. William passed the ball to me before the players got too close, I catching and hold it in my left hand whilst I observed the field. I could see that the player near Stephen on the left of the court was moving, expecting me to redirect the pass that way. William had been double teamed and was no longer open and Ben had been marked by Cole. Doing what they would had least expected me to, I fluidly moved my hand so that it was facing behind me and passed the ball that way, Sam catching the ball as he moved forward.

One of the players blocking William moved towards me as Sam ran up to my left side, looking to mark me before I could do any more. William broke past the player on the far left and Sam passed to him. Cole forgot about Ben as William neared, easily stealing the ball from him. As soon as it was in their possession, Aidan got ready to run forward from his position, Cole about to throw the ball back to him. He didn't see me coming however and I knocked the ball from his hand, sending it back to Stephen as he ran past. Cole looked shocked that I had gotten there so quick, but while I was near him I simply stated, "Holding the ball out behind yourself like that was reckless, even if you were about to throw it."

Since Cole had come forward slightly to steal the ball, Ben was now open and Stephen passed the ball to him. He then instantly turned around and jumped, looking to get a slam dunk. He thought it would go in until Aidan jumped in his way, having forgotten he was still near the hoop. The ball was knocked out of his hands, Cole backhanding to a player working his way up the right, who then ricocheted it to a player on the left. They were going to play their redirection chain again, I knew I had to get in there and stop it before it reached Aidan, who had easily broken past Ben and was running down the centre past our defences.

The redirected ball soon went back to Cole, who caught it in both hands and performed another of his powerful passes. The ball shot towards Aidan, who held his hand out behind him to receive it. In his confidence however, he overlooked me coming up on him, only realising I was there when I knocked the ball to the right, seconds before it reached his hand and he went for the shot. He swore at me under his breath, cursing my persistence as he did a one eighty. The ball landed safely in Williams hands, who jumped up over his mark and displayed a magnificent long pass, the ball reaching over Bens head in the middle of the court.

Grinning smugly, Ben jumped up with a hand in the air, planning to dunk the ball through the hoop. Suddenly, player was on his right and the ball was knocked out of his towards a player on the left. The player backhanded the ball one one more time, Aidan turning to the side and catching it with both hands. "You're too slow." He said to me as I ran beside him, he turning back to face the hoop and shooting quicker than I could react. He scored yet another three pointer, changing the score to 18:26 at the six minute forty mark.

Everyone got into their positions once again, our team starting to feel worse about how the game was going. Whenever we were able to score a dunk or two, they fought back with equal force. No matter how hard we tried, we could let close the gap. I knew that it was down to me to find a way to stop the redirection chain they kept using, at that point in the game it was the source of their distress an I was the only one agile enough to have a chance at getting in its way.

Sam threw the ball after picking out his target, Stephen. The ball never got to him however, as Cole stepped in front and intercepted it before aiming one of his renowned passes at Aidan, who caught it whilst running towards the hoop, seeming intent on a dunk this time. Sam was the only one in front of him and, to everyone's surprise, he jumped up to block the shot. Aidan didn't let that deter him and reached for the hoop. Luckily for us, Sam reached just far enough to his fingers to tap the ball and mess up Aidan's aim enough to ruin the shot. He slammed the ball against the edge of the hoop instead of through the net, dropping it down behind him.

It bounced once, I grabbing hold of it as it came back up. I quickly turned around with fiery determination in my eyes, searching for who I could pass it to. William was being marked by Cole on the left side, another player a little further away from them. On the right, Stephen was also being marked and the third player was making his way in front of Ben, who was within range of their hoop. My eyes scanned the field, seeing multiple possibilities, then I threw the ball.

I aimed for the hoop on the other side of the court, a shot I knew I could never make, but my plan worked. I had succeeded in baiting the player in front of Ben to jump up and intercept the ball, but it didn't go as he thought it would. Ben jumped up too, much higher, and reached his hand over the players shoulder, knocking the ball from his hands. It was too much to ask of him to grab the ball and dunk in that position, now we just had to get the ball back to him. I knew were it was headed, I was three steps ahead of all the other players. The ball went towards the player on the left, who had just passed the half court line. Just like I thought he would, he drew back his hand to redirect the ball into their chain of passes just like before, hitting in diagonally across to a fellow player.

Dashing as agilely as I could, I only just managed to reach the ball in time. My fingers a little more than grazed it, altering its angle by just a tad. When it reached the other player, he only just caught it with the tips of his fingers when he backhanded, passing it towards Aidan while he was still under our hoop. The angle had been affected however and now the difference showed, the ball missing Aidan's hands by an inch and falling instead into Sam's as he poked out from behind. Through a clean straight shot pass, the ball came to me, I smacking it with my hand to redirect it in Stephen's direction. Since the player had been caught off balance when I had adjusted the angle of the redirection chain, Stephen was able to lean the other way and catch the ball, then passing it towards Ben.

We had thought we had caught the player marking Ben off guard by passing to his side, but he swiftly moved to intercept it, backhanding to send it towards his teammate on the left. I was there however, having worked my way up court in case something went wrong. I caught the ball and quick as a flash threw it back towards the players other side, which Ben was now looking around. Catching the ball with an outstretched hand, Ben turned around and jumped as high as he could. The player behind him jumped too, but couldn't reach. Ben used both his hands to grand slam dunk the ball through the hoop with incredible force, upping the score to 20:26 at five minutes twenty five.

The pace of the game changed after that, we doing a lot better in the last five minutes of the first half. Every time Aidan's team tried to use their redirection chain, I was able to tap the ball with my fingertips, getting a little better every time. Soon we reached a point where I could very easily intercept the play, and we were closing the point gap too. As we neared the end of the first half, the score was 32:33, we just one point behind.

Ten seconds were left on the clock, Cole had the ball and Sam was coming up in front of him to steal it, forcing him to pass to a player on the left side of the court. That player hit the ball with a backhand, stubbornly intending to continue their use of the redirection chain. I was easily able to intercept the ball and catch it in both hands, but in a flash Aidan ran past me, knocking the ball out of his hands and into mine as he did so. I turned and chased him, barely keeping up, then he jumped up to take a shot from the outside line. I was able to get in front of him and decided to jump up to try and block the shot, I being the only one close enough, but felt a crack in my back before I could get high enough. Pain shot through all of my back as I fell back down, Aidan taking the shot and successfully scoring a three pointer, the score at the end of the first half settling at 32:36.

Sam and Ben ran over and carefully helped me off the ground as the whistle blew, Dick also rushing to ask what had happened. I was practically carried into the changing rooms with my arms around their shoulders as the ten minute break began, my back still in agony. I cursed at myself. Without me to combat against Aidan and the redirection pass, what would we do?

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4- Unexpected

Through The Hoop

Chapter 4

Unexpected

 **So here is the finale of the match. I know there's been some technical errors as to how certain parts of the game worked, but it gets a lot better by about chapter 7 or 8, because that's when I starting learning a lot more about basketball. Anyway, enjoy!**

Opening Music: Kuroko No Basket OP 1

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

"There's no way you can go out and play like that, I'll have to sub you out." Dick told me, after having analysing the severity of my back injury. He thought that I'd been trying too hard, since I needed to go quickly to intercept the opposing teams passes, and that the jump had probably been the breaking point.

"Sub me out for who coach? We don't have any other players." I reminded him, lying down on a bench in the changing room, on top of a clothes they had found for me to make it a little more comfortable. The only reason we were still in the match with a lack of players is because it was a friendly match and the other side had agreed to limit its number of players to make it fair.

"You'll be subbed out for me, of course." Dick responded, pointing a thumb at the number on his top. "I'm not just your coach, I'm your captain too, so I'll take your place."

"Do you think you'll be ok against Aidan?" William asked as Dick forced me to keep my head down. "He's a good shooter and a fast runner, not to mention their redirection chain..."

"Without Olly on the court, it'll be difficult to counter that." Stephen agreed.

"Don't you two underestimate me, you've seen me in games before." Dick sternly told them, seeming annoyed that the didn't think he could do it.

"What's he like?" Ben curiously asked Stephen and William.

"Well, you can't really understand his skill until you see it, but he's an amazing outside shooter." Stephen answered first.

"He can make a shot from almost the half court line, his accuracy is pinpoint and his balance whilst jumping is extraordinary!" William added, in awe of recalling the plays while he dreamily raised his hands in the air as if making a shot. "That said though, I don't know if it'll be enough to keep up with the other team, especially not if they use their redirection chain."

"Yeah, I'll admit that's still a problem." Dick concurred, scratching his chin as he tried to think of a strategy. "For now, I think we'll have to concentrate on getting the ball to either me or Ben so we can score. Ideally we want it to go to me so a can get a three pointer, so make sure to get it to me quickly on the throw in. If we do that, we should be able to keep up and hopefully even get ahead."

Once that was decided, we spent the rest of the ten minute break relaxing and getting back as much energy as we could. Once the call came for us to return to the court, Ben and Dick helped me up so that I could at least watch the rest of the match.

Aidan watched from his team's side as they lay me down on the bench, Dick taking Bens place in the formation and Ben standing were I would have been. He was surprised I was still able to watch after what had looked like a critically bad injury, but was glad I was no longer on the court. Without me, most of their plays would be more likely to go through, he not thinking the new player coming on looked like anything special.

The third quarter would be started by another upwards serve from the centre of court, Aidan and Dick about to compete for first touch. It was only then that we realised how tall Dick truly was. Aidan wasn't short, but Dick was still half a head over him.

Music: http/youtu.be/QlaEv43USAo [Kuroko No Basket OST- Strike Back]

As the whistle blew and the ball was served upwards, Dick jumped within the same second, his feet pushing him off the ground with swiftness but also force. Aidan didn't even jump, too shocked at the player towering over him before he could even bend his legs. Dick hit the ball with his hand, sending it downwards like a bullet into the hands of Stephen, who dribbled forward as the two teams converged into each other. Aidan turned around immediately and stole the ball, turning again to dribble towards the hoop, but almost jumping out of his skin when he saw that Dick was right there, his arms spread eagled to each side. Aidan tried to go left, tried to go right, both times Dick was too quick on his feet. His arm-span stopped Aidan from being able to get past, only slight adjustments needed to stop him moving forward. Since he couldn't pass to save his life, there wasn't very many choices for him to pick from.

He decided to try going back and then rushing around, but as soon as he back stepped Dick knocked the ball down and out of his hands, he grabbing it and turning around. Aidan was caught off balance, but Cole was right in front of Dick as he turned around, blocking his way forward. Neither player could believe it when Dick jumped up and raised his arms high above Coles head. "A shot? From here? He's on the half line, for gods sake!" Cole thought to himself, wondering what Dick was up to trying to make such a tricky shot as he jumped up to block. Try as he did, he didn't even get close to reaching the ball, Dick already much higher than him and still slowly rising. He flicked his wrist, launching the ball across the court in a perfectly angled arc and landing it cleanly in the hoop, making the score 35:36 just thirty seconds into the third quarter.

The opposing team muttered amongst themselves as we all got into position, Cole being given the duty of throwing in the ball. He stared sternly at Dick as he readied himself, once again Dick was holding his arms spread eagled out to his sides. It was a fine defensive tactic which allowed him to effectively steal the ball from either side. Cole considered his options for a moment before coming up with a plan.

Surprising everyone with his seemingly stupid move, Cole threw the ball up into the air, it almost going into the wrong hoop. Dick reacted quickly, jumping up to dunk the ball in, but Cole was already up there, having jumped as he threw the ball. He smacked in downwards with his powerful hands, sending it under Dicks legs as he went up in the air. The ball bounced into the hands of one of their players, who dribbled away from their end of the court as Dick landed.

The player was stepped in front of by Sam, who held his arms out, following Dicks example. His arms weren't quite as long though, so he failed to reach the ball when it was thrown to the left, the player over there backhanding it. The ball zoomed diagonally across the court, meaning their team was aware that they were free to use their redirection chain with me on the bench. The ball was hit again by a player on the other side, sending it zooming into Aidan's hand as he held it out behind him. He then quickly reached the hoop and prepared for a dunk, both Ben and Stephen jumping up in front to stop him. Their hands hit the ball out of Aidan's hand, but the whistle blew and the ref called foul. Their chests had hit Aidan as they reached out for the ball, meaning he would get a free throw in from their side, giving them a chance to get the ball in. Luckily, he would have to be the one doing the throw in since he was fouled, so we had time to stop them getting it to him.

Aidan threw the ball back in from under the hoop without much hesitation, relying on the player who caught it to get the dunk. Ben jumped up again and this time knocked the ball away without getting a foul, Sam expertly catching the ball. He turned and passed it a good long way down the court to Dick, who was on the outside line. Cole was ready to jump and have another go at intercepting his shot when he turned, but he didn't. Instead he simply threw the ball over his shoulder without looking and, as if the ball itself was blessed, it went in for three points. Our few supporters cheered as the score changed to 38:36, putting us in the lead for the first time in the match.

The third quarter went quite like that for a while, our team either a point behind or a point in front at one time. Aidan's team used their redirection chain effectively, but we always countered with a three pointer from Dick, keeping the score even at 47:47 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

It was then that the change was made. Aidan's team subbed out one of their weaker players for Garth, the big guy who had been sitting on the bench most of the game. He was well built, wide and tall as well as muscly, but we had yet to see his true skill.

We first saw it when William had the ball, dribbling it between his two hands as he ran down the court. Garth stepped in front of him to get in his way while Aidan and Cole came behind him, the other two players marking Sam and Stephen so they couldn't help. Ben was hanging back close to their hoop and starting running over when he saw William was in trouble, but didn't get there fast enough to do anything. William tried desperately to get past Garth but couldn't. No matter which way he tried to go, Garth's large body stopped him from advancing. He was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone so big. Seeing Stephen poke a hand out from behind his mark, William tried to pass to him, but Garth simply stepped around him and caught the ball without even breaking into a run. He was so wide he could just move over and grab it. He then shot into a charge, keeping his body low as he dribbled the ball aerodynamically. As Aidan came up on his left side, he threw the ball that way and turned with precision, letting him do the work.

Aidan jumped up and forward, using a lane up to advance on the hoop and get a slam dunk. Ben jumped in front of him and knocked the ball away, but Garth was there. He caught the ball whilst still hunched for aerodynamic purposes, flicking his wrist over his shoulder to send the ball into the hoop. The score was now 47:49, we'd once again fallen behind.

"What's with that Garth guy?" Sam asked Dick as they prepared for the throw in, hoping he would know. "He broke past William like he wasn't even there."

"From what I've heard, Garth is a beast of free breaks." Dick answered, wiping sweat from his forehead as Sam took position under the hoop. "You see how he hunched over like that, keeping his back facing the air like he's a predator in the wild? That increases his aerodynamics, makes him a ton faster and more agile, like a cheetah. Standing up straight, he'd be a completely different player. It's a unique technique, but effective, allowing him to defend and break past without issues."

Taking that in and hoping they would find a way to combat against it soon, Sam threw the ball back into play, aiming to get it to Dick quickly. Garth sped in out of nowhere, hunched over like before, and snatched it up. He dribbled forward until he reached Dick, who tried to reach out and grab the ball, but Garth swiftly dodged to one side and then the other, using the confusion to get past. "Damn it!" Dick cursed out loud, too annoyed to keep his thoughts to himself. "He's so low to the ground I can't reach the ball!"

Garth then dribbled forward with the ball until he reached the outside line, then passed left to Aidan and broke off to the right. Another thing about him was how quickly he could turn. Since he was so aerodynamic being so low, he could change direction with almost no effort and send the ball the other way. Aidan immediately jumped and leaned back into a fadeaway shot, but Sam jumped up heroically to stop the ball. He tapped it with his fingertips before falling back down, disrupting it enough to make it hit the edge of the hoop and drop without going in.

Sam quickly caught the ball as he landed, players coming up to him from both sides and Aidan from the front. He passed to Dick, who turned around and was confronted by both Aidan and Garth, a seemingly impassible line of defence. As I watched I thought he had no way to get past, then as Aidan stuck out his hand, Dick threw the ball behind his back and twirled, dodging Aidan and grabbing the ball at the same time. He was then confronted with Garth, who was still sticking low to the ground, but seemed more confident. "You always stick low to the ground, which makes you a problem for dribblers." Dick stated, as if he was about to point out a weakness in that strategy. "When you're standing up though, you're a slow oaf, and you can't get up fast enough to stop this!" Dick then raised his arms above his head and threw the ball in a long pass, it going way over Garth's head. He'd found a way to get past him. Since Garth was so low, a high shot would be difficult for him to stop and if he wanted to stay standing straight to defend against that, he'd be to cumbersome and lose all his speed.

Jumping and catching the ball in one hand, Ben ran forward and jumped again. Two of the opposing players jumped in front to block him, but he was still able to stick his arm over them and get the ball in to change the score to 49:49, keeping us at a tie.

The rest of the third quarter went similarly, the score settling at 56:56 before the last two minute break. Dick and the rest of the team used to time to check up y condition and thanks to the rest I had gotten, I was able to sit up, although I was still wincing. I didn't mind being out of the game of my injury as long as we still won. I told Dick that and he couldn't help but smile, promising that we would.

When the final ten minutes began, Dick was able to hit the ball towards us and it was served in from the side, but then gasped at the sight of Garth aerodynamically weaving into our defences. He was behind our lines within a couple of seconds and stole the ball from Stephen with ease. Both Stephen and William tried to get the ball back, but Garth turned his back to them and denied them it, then dribbling away towards out hoop. Dick tried to stop him when he went past, but he was low enough to duck under his eagle spread arms and keep going, swiftly passing to Aidan, who jumped up on the outside line.

Luckily for us, Ben blocked Aidan in the air and managed to knock the ball away, Dick cleanly catching it in both his hands. He saw Garth speeding back to him in his usual aerodynamic hunch, then turned around to pass the ball to Sam. Garth was in front of him just as quickly as he had expected, but Dick knew he wouldn't be able to rise up from being that low to the ground fast enough to block the ball if he went for a high pass.

Or so he thought. As he jumped and the ball left his hands in a flick of the wrist, Garth suddenly shot up into a standing position and jumped. He barely gained any height, but his natural tallness and his long arms made it so he could just reach the ball and tap it back with his fingers. I was amazed by how quickly Garth had went from hunched and low to the ground to standing up straight and jumping. It was a sign that he was learning on the spot, a dangerous prospect for our team.

Aidan caught the ball as it came back down, Ben not being ready to jump this time when Aidan went for the three pointer, the score changing to 56:59. The next few minutes went quite similarly. Once Garth had the ball he was uncatchable, once he passed to Aidan their scoring was almost inevitable. Ben managed to block some of his shots, but no one else could jump high enough. Whenever Dick tried to go for a three pointer, he was blocked by Garth, who was gradually getting better and standing up straight faster and faster. When Dick called for a time out with three minutes to go, the score was 56:63.

"Damn that Garth, he's just too fast." Dick said as he sat down next to me on the bench, wiping sweat from his face with a towel as he panted hard. "Once gets the ball, it's impossible to get it off him.

For someone tall like me it's even more difficult to reach down there."

"You need someone short and fast." I pointed out as I sat next to him, still being okay to sit up straight with much pain, my back was mainly stiff at that point.

"Yeah, that'd be helpful. Someone short enough to get down to Garth's level..." He agreed, then suddenly gasped when he realised what I was getting at. "No way! You're back is still too sore and stiff! I'd be putting your health in danger!"

"I can do it."

"No! I won't sub you in, you're injured!"

"Let him play." Ben interjected from my other side, mimicking dribbling a ball with his left hand as if to practice. "If he says he can do it, he will."

"I'm still not sure..." Dick muttered after a silent moment of contemplation.

He and Sam then held their breath as I stood up from the bench, they expecting me to fall back down. I stood steady though, and told Dick, "Hit me."

"What? Are you an idiot?" Dick exclaimed, standing up as I turned to face him.

"Please, try to hit me." I insisted. "I'll prove to you I can do it."

Unsure of whether he should, Dick stared at me confusedly for a minute, then half heartedly stick his heart out to tap my chest. Moving incredibly quickly for someone as handicapped as myself, I moved expertly on my feet and got around to his right side, dodging his hand.

If I had been on the court and he had been an opposing player, the ball would still be in my hands.

"All right, fine. You can play." Dick gave up, seeing the looks on the faces of the rest of the team and not wanting to oppose them. "Just be careful though, don't jump like before."

"I'll be careful, but if I have to jump to beat Aidan, I will." I responded sternly. "I'll beat him."

Dick wasn't happy about that statement, but saw that he wasn't going to be able to change my mind and reluctantly let me go. He subbed me out for Sam, who was looking incredibly exhausted, and we got back to the game as clock started again from three minutes.

Music: http/youtu.be/MqqgpQf4g0I [Kuroko No Basket OST- Unexpected]

It was Dick and Aidan in the centre when the ball was throw back in, Dick reaching out his long arm to catch the ball and then pass it behind his back. Stephen caught the ball while he moved forward, but it was quickly stolen once again by Garth, who was low to ground as usual. Garth then turned around agilely and made a fast break, passing the ball to Aidan on the right as he neared the hoop. Aidan jumped up and arced his arm back for a dunk, but I knocked it away as his arm came down. "I'll beat you." I told him again he scowled at me for getting in the way.

William was there to catch the ball as it was knocked behind Aidan, passing it back to Dick, who was once again faced by Garth. He turned and tried to jump up as high as he could to get a long pass to Ben in, but Garth was used to the manoeuvre by now and stood up straight in front of him fast enough to steal the ball, then going back down into aerodynamic mode and starting to break into another dash. He didn't expect me to be able to reach as low as he was however, but I did, my natural shortness helping out. I knocked the ball from his hands as he was hunched over, Dick grabbing into and throwing into to Ben in the intended long pass, he scoring a slam dunk for two points and bringing the score to 58:63.

They were quickly back in the game, Cole catching the ball as it fell through the hoop and using one of his super passes to get it to Garth again, who immediately hunched down and tried to speed past Dick. I was there once again though, knocking the ball out of his hands just like before and Dick grabbing it once again. This time Dick went forward to the outside line and stood on it, Garth getting in front and jumping up as he prepared to take the shot. He had been bamboozled however, as Dick then duck back down and passed the ball sideways to me, I redirecting it to Ben with a smack of the hand. He then went on to dunk, changing the score to 60:63.

Once again, Cole wasted no time in using one of his power passes, but this time around I had expected it and caught the ball before it went far. I then passed it to Dick with my hand behind my back as he moved sideways, he then moving his arm in one fluid movement that even Garth couldn't stop, shooting the ball from the three point line whilst leaning sideways. Amazingly, he made the shot, tying the score at 63:63. Our families in the crowd were amazed that we had scored three times in a row, their cheers increasing.

Music: http/youtu.be/FuOflzRsDOU [KnB OST- Unexpected]

Cole once again power passed almost immediately, but this time he aimed the ball slightly to the left of where I had expected it to go, meaning I missed it by an inch. A player appeared behind me, backhanding the ball to Garth in the centre of the court. He then passed it underneath himself, Aidan another player prepping to catch it as Aidan backed up, playing defensive. Ben ran in front of the pass and intercepted it, swiftly passing to Dick, who had the ball stolen from him by Garth again. Once again however, I was there. I knocked the ball out of Garth's hands, stepping around him and grabbing it before running towards the hoop. I saw the clock out of the corner of my eye as I ran, seven seconds to go.

Aidan was between me and and the hoop. I looked behind me briefly, six seconds. If I passed back to Ben and it was intercepted, we'd lose our chance. Five seconds. I had no choice, I jumped up as I neared the hoop, barely getting any higher as the back started to seize up and agonise me again. Four seconds, Aidan was higher than me, he'd stop the shot. Three seconds, I go back down, he gasps, not being able to land quickly enough. Two seconds, I twirl around to behind him with the ball still in my hands and then jump, a double clutch. One second.

"I'll beat you!"

The ball goes through the hoop, my back searing in agony and stiffness as I push my legs to their limits and the timer hits zero and the buzzer sounds. The game's over, the score is 65:63 in our favour. We've won. The rest of our team explodes in cheers, Aidan's team looking shocked. I fall to the ground, all of my team rushing over to help. Dick and Ben help me up and wrap my arms around their shoulders, Aidan stares at me, a new look in his eyes. A look of admiration.

"I'm actually impressed, Clayden."

"I said I'd beat you...I show you even more next time."

We had won our first game, I'd beaten Aidan.

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Chapter 5- Three on Three

Through The Hoop

Chapter 5

Three on Three

 **Heyo, time for anther chapter! This ones all out a practice match and has some sweet action it. Also, the team at the end is one of my favourite OC ones, so the few chapters are gonna be good!**

Opening Music: Kuroko No Basket OP 1

Two weeks later, I was stood on the basketball court in the leisure centre. I had been training there since the beginning of the morning, it getting nearer lunch time at that point. Standing up on my tip toes and jumping a little, I threw the ball at the hoop from the outside line, but I bounced off, I catching rebound disappointedly. My back had gotten better in the two weeks I had been training with the rest of the team, I now being able to jump and run around without it hurting, but the risk of it hurting again was always in the back of my mind. Dick had told the team to take the day off, but I had come regardless. I needed to get better at shooting. I could barely reach I enough to shoot the ball in from under the hoop, so I desperately needed to learn to score three pointers. At least then I'd have some usefulness other than my redirection passes.

I threw the ball again, this time it hitting the edge of the hoop and rebounding into my hands. I wasn't getting any better, if anything I was worse. I looked to the right as I heard the big double doors opening up and saw the rest of the team walking in wearing blank shirts and shorts for practice just like I was. "I thought you might be here, you've been obsessed with practicing your shots recently." Dick said as they reached me, I holding the ball under my arm. "I told you to take a day off."

"Then why are you all here?" I retorted cleverly, Dick face showing he didn't have a response to that.

"He's right, coach, why are we here?" Stephen asked from the back, going on his tiptoes to look over Ben.

"Yeah, my legs are still sore from all the training you've been making us do." William complained, I secretly agreeing with him.

"Well, I thought since we've been training individually so far, we could have a three on three." Dick told us all, gesturing for me to throw him the ball, which I did. "I had an inkling Olly would all ready be here, so I called you guys as well."

"What's this about a three on three?" Sam questioned. "Do you mean like a practice match?"

"Exactly." Dick responded, bouncing the ball up and down like a pro. "New guys against old guys. That me, Stephen and William against Sam, Olly and Ben. First team to ten points wins."

"Ha! Hope you're ready for a serious beatdown, coach! We're gonna destroy you!" Ben boastfully warned, jogging onto the court as Sam followed.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Dick mumbled under his breath as we got ready. "You saw what I can do in our last game, but Stephen and WillIam took it easy so you could have the spotlight. Just wait till you see all three of us at full strength."

Music: http/youtu.be/hKwYIoiU2c0 [Kuroko No Basket OST- Fast Attack]

Once we were all in position, we started the practice game. Dick and Ben took the central positions and Dick served the ball up, Ben jumping to hit it. He then looked up with his mouth hanging open as Dick jumped higher and faster than him and hit the ball overhead towards his team. William expertly caught the ball as the two centres came back down to the ground, surveying his environment whilst standing in pose that he could begin running off of in an instant. "William's our point guard, he can see the entire court with his eagle eye." Dick told us as we waited for the man himself to make a pass. "Not only that, he can predict what moves the opposing players will make and find the perfect strategy."

We saw Williams eyes darting around the court as he took in every detail, ready to go at a moments notice. He knew Stephane was to his far left, slightly behind him. He also saw that Ben was rushing towards him, Dick close on his tail. Dick got around to Bens front side and stopped him from going any further, William then noticing me coming on the right side of the court, his left. He knew I'd intercept any pass he made to Stephen through that direction and he also saw Sam coming up in front, probably intending on marking him and stealing the ball. Doing what none of us had expected or prepared for, William passed backwards without even looking, Stephen moving right and sticking out an arm to grab the ball from a distance. "Stephen is good at overhead passes, ones that are difficult for the defence to handle." Dick told us, describing each of his players one after the other.

Just as Dick had said, William held his arms up high and launched the ball in an arcing overhead shot, passing to Dick, who jumped to grab it, before I could get close. Dick then dribbled forward with Ben close on his tail, quickly jumping and shooting the ball once he reached the outside line. The ball dropped cleanly through the hoop, scoring three points for their side. "Damn it!" Ben cursed, annoyed at his uselessness.

"You shouldn't underestimate us just because of how we were in the last game." William told us as he jogged past, getting into position to receive the throw in.

"Like Dick said, we took it easy so you would have a chance to shine, we won't be doing that this time." Stephen added as he stood near the hoop where Sam was with the ball in both hands. After that statement, he then stole the ball from Sam as he threw it in and next held his arms up, launching the ball into another one of his high overhead passes. Dick was blocking Ben from the front and jumped up to grab the ball, catching it despite Bens efforts to make it otherwise. He wasted no time in jumping back up for another shot, launching the ball up from the outside line. It seemed he would score another three pointer, but Sam jumped at as high as he could, just barely tapping the ball with his fingers. It was enough to alter its path just enough for it to hit the backboard, then bounce of the edge of the hoop.

"Rebound!" We heard Dick shout out to his teammates, signalling for them to catch the falling ball. Sam had jumped before Stephen however and caught the ball with both hands. He dribbled it forward with Stephen right behind him, then seeing Dick in his way, who was also blocking Ben behind him with his widespread arms. Sam used both hands to quickly pass to the right side of the court where I stood, I smacking the ball so that it was diagonally redirected to Ben, who was still behind Dick. The clever misdirection tactic had gotten the behind Dicks defence in an unexpected way.

Before Dick could turn, Ben was off with the ball, speeding towards the other hoop. William was at that end and stepped in front to stop him. Ben dribbled the ball from right to left, starting to move his body as if he was planning to go in that direction, Stephen also going that way to stop him. He then however, went the other way instead, Stephen exclaiming, "A fake?!"

Ben reached the hoop in no time at all and with no one to stop him, he dunked the ball through with one hand, changing the score to 03:02. We had managed to score but were still behind. We knew that in a dunks versus three pointers situation, we would lose unless we got more than them. They were already closer to ten points.

William took the duty of putting the ball back into play, looking around with his eagle eyes to see who was free. On the right, Ben and Dick were back to back, both of them struggling to get in front of the other. On the left, I was being marked by Stephen, who stood in front of me to stop me reaching the ball. Sam stood right in the centre, ready to intercept the ball if it came his way. Taking it all in, William passed to Stephen, who then turned and tried to get away with the ball. He had forgotten however that I was there and I knocked the ball out of his hands with one of mine.

Sam caught the ball as it was sent towards him, making a fast break towards the hoop where William was still standing. He tried to pass sideways to Ben, but Dick stuck his hand out in front of him and caught the ball instead, swiftly turning and heading for the hoop as we all followed. When he was just before the outside line, he jumped up to make a shot, only to be surprised when Ben hit the ball from behind just before his throw. The ball consequently hit the edge of the hoop and bounced off. Dick yelled "Rebound!" To his teammates again, but Sam jumped up and caught the ball in both hands before anyone else could get near. "He's so fast to get the rebounds!" Dick thought to himself in shock.

Sam then ran forward, dribbling the ball as he went until he neared the half court line. He then threw the ball to his right, I smacking it with my hand and redirecting it over to Ben, who had ran past Dick on the other side of the court. Before he could get far enough to dunk however, William was in front, blocking him with widespread arms. Stopping him from moving back was Dick, both of them trapping Ben in an effective double team. Remembering the play from our previous match, Ben bounced the ball under Williams legs, Sam grabbing it as it came back up and attempting to score a shot from the outside line. The ball fell short, he gritting his teeth at the failed three pointer, but I ran past him as he scowled. As the ball fell just before hitting the hoop, I reached under it and hit it back up with my hand. It just barely went through the net, upping the score to 03:04 and putting us in the lead.

In an instant after the ball hit the ground, our team of three relaxing after having scored, Stephen was there. He grabbed the ball, throwing it up and overhead in one of his special passes. Dick jumped up from behind Ben and caught it, swiftly turning around and making a fast break. Before anyone could stop him, he had scored another three pointer, changing the score to 06:04 in their favour. We three cursed ourselves for relaxing to early as we all got into position for the throw in. "Don't relax until the game is over." Dick advised us. "Your opponent might take their sweet time getting to the ball after you score, but in all likelihood, they'll strike back. If you slack off because you scored a few points, they'll counter you."

Taking in Dicks words of advice, definitely having learned our lesson, Sam took the ball from under the hoop. He dribbled forward with haste, his path promptly being blocked by Dick standing there with his hands out to his sides. Sam saw me behind him though, so he turned around at put his back to Dick, then passed the ball backwards under his arm. I caught it and began to run up court, seeing Ben running just ahead of me on a perfect course to the hoop. I was blocked by William, so I tried a similar move as Sam. I first turned my back to William, then spun round again as quickly as could and dribbled to his right side while he was caught off guard. The trick didn't work as planned however, William still being able to reach over and knock the ball out of my hands as I passed. I was too surprised to come to a halt in time to reclaim it, Stephen catching it as he came in from the left side.

Stephen then went forward with the ball, Sam standing in front of him to block. Stephen didn't look worried however and we soon saw why. Instead of trying to dribble around Sam, he back stepped and threw the ball in one of his high arcing passes, Dick catching it and scoring again. They were now quite a way ahead of us at 09:04, meaning they only needed one more point to win the practice game.

"Come on, new guys!" Dick shouted as he walked back to us, all three of us being shocked by his tone of voice. "I know you can do better than this, otherwise we wouldn't have won the last game! Don't hold back because we're your teammates, do your best! Play to your strengths!"

Whether he had intended for such an effect or not, Dick's speech spurred us, we three changing our attitude as we prepared to get the ball back into play. We knew we could do better, we had done last game, we'd show our teammates too.

As soon as Sam retrieved the ball from under the net, he faced Dick, who was standing not too far in front of him, and thrust the ball towards him with both hands. "What's he doing? With the trajectory of the ball, it's as if he's passing to me, the enemy!" Dick thought to himself frantically, wondering what he was up to, or if he had simply given up. He gasped audibly when my hand stuck through under his arm and caught the ball. With it in my grip, I spun around and and tossed it to Ben, who jumped slightly to catch it as he worked his way up the court.

Ben's path was blocked by Stephen and William before he reached dunking range, both of them standing in his way. Seeing no easy way past them, Ben instead passed backwards to me without even looking, I holding the ball above my head with both hands. "A three pointer?!" Stephen exclaimed in surprise.

"Olly could never make three pointer shots in practice before now, it'll miss!" William pointed out as the two of them started to turn their feet away from Ben.

"Captain, you said we should play to our strengths." I said to Dick as I prepared to take the shot, jumping as high and fast as I could. "But, I think we could play to our weaknesses as well." I then threw the ball towards the hoop with a flick of my hand as I reached the peak of my jump. Just like they had predicted, the ball hit the edge of the hoo without going in. Dick called once again for his teammates to get on the rebound, Stephen and William forgetting about Ben and moving forward to get it. That was their mistake, Ben was now able to move forward freely and did so, jumping at the same time as the other two but gaining more height. His hand touches the ball, then he dunked it in, changing the score to 09:06.

Just like before, they were quick to get the ball back into play, William taking it up court until he was blocked by Sam. He then passed to Stephen on his left, who jumped up for an overhead pass. Dick was ready to catch it, but neglected to jump since he was so sure he would get it, meaning Sam was able to steal the ball when he jumped. He then started to move back towards the hoop before being stopped by William, but he then passed towards the other side of the court, I smacking the ball with my hand and redirecting it to Ben, who was near the corner. Ben then leapt into the air despite Stephen being right in front of him, who jumped up too. Ben's large body shoved Stephen out of the way, then he went for the dunk whilst still in the air.

We all cringed however, when Ben's forehead hit the edge of the hoop with a bang of metal on skull, he then dropping the ball and falling onto his back. We of course all rushed over to help him, William pulling Stephen up to his feet while we inspected Ben's wound. When he raised his head slightly, we saw that blood was running down his forehead and he seemed to be dizzy. "You idiot! You got too eager!" Dick scolded, William and Stephen rushing to get bandages from the first aid kit. "On top of that, you pushed Stephen out of your way, that would've been a foul!"

"Uh...mmhhghh..." Ben unintelligibly mumbled, his thoughts obviously frazzled from the impact.

"Jeez, you can't play like this. I'll have to take your place in tomorrow's game." Dick groaned as he began to apply the bandages around Ben's head.

"Wait, we have a game tomorrow? Since when?" I asked, this being the first any of us had heard about it.

"I was going to tell you after practice so you wouldn't be stressed about it, but we have another six man practice match against a team from Essex tomorrow." Dick explained, finishing up applying the bandages. "I was hoping we'd all be good to go, they're a strong team, but this idiot had to go and get himself injured. Now we'll be a man down from the start."

Just as Dick had told us, the next day a practice game was held on the leisure centre's basketball court. More people came to this one than the last, most being there just to watch what they hoped would be a good, even sided game. Dick didn't have many hopes for such a thing now that our forward man was out of the game, but we still turned up to warm up before the game started. When it was about to begin, the referee blew his whistle and announced, "Welcome to the practice match between the Haverhill Leisure Centre Basketball Club and the Essex Under 20 Basketball Team! On black, it's the Haverhill Club!"

"The Number 3 Captain, Dick!" The referee announced as our captain and coach stepped forward with our team following, many people in the audience giggling at his name and he scowling at them. "Number 1, William! Number 5, Sam! Number 2, Stephen and number 6, Olly!"

Not many people cheered for our team, we barely received scattered applause. The referee carried on to introduce our opposers, "On white, it's the Essex Team! Number 9, Fin!" Fin stepped forward first. He has a fairly short, although slightly taller than me, guy with neatly cut, caramel coloured hair. He looked very nervous, perhaps timid or shy. Regardless, the Essex team had made him their centre.

"Number 11, Reg!" Reg was an extremely tall player with a tan and buzz cut black hair. He wasn't incredibly strong looking, but had some muscles and looked like he'd be trouble to deal with if they put him on defence.

"Number 4, Cal" Cal was like the opposite of both the players before him. He was incredibly muscly looking with a wide build and large hands, he seemed like he'd be dangerous on offence.

"Number 6, Dom!" Dom looked like the kind of guy who would be quick on his feet, tall and wiry but also agile looking.

"Finally, the team captain! Number 2, Jack Howard!" Me, Sam and Ben recognised that name immediately, staring at him with a mixture of interest and shock. Jack was a blonde haired and very athletic guy whom we had all known from school just like Aidan. Now we were going up against yet another old classmate. He saw me and Sam on the court and must have recognised us too, because he smiled confidently and then joined the rest of his team.

Ben was sat on the bench as all this transpired, a bandage wrapped around his head and basketball gear worn under his jumper. He had been so stubborn about at least being on the bench that Dick had caved in and let him, but he wasn't thinking about that now. He was looking at the other team's bench across the court, seeing someone he recognised all too well from the last game. Aidan.

END OF CHAPTER 5

 **Just a side note before the end, this is more of a casual project than my other fanfic. O and O is meticulously planned out, whereas with this one I tend to wing it and see where it goes. That said, I do have certain scenes in the future already planned. Anyway, until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6- A Truly Strong Team

Through The Hoop

Chapter 6

A Truly Strong Team

 **All right, I've been looking forward to this one! Suffolk Vs Essex! Jack's team is really cool, so enjoy the first chapter of the match!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/RZN6IZbpRdA [Kuroko No Basket OP 1]

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

Why was Aidan on the opposing team's bench? That was the question going through everyone's minds after we saw him there, Dick and Fin facing each other in the centre for the tip off. Had he joined the team for some reason? What about his other team? What had happened to them?

"Um...I'm very unsure of myself..." Fin said to Dick shyly, drawing his attention away from the bench. He looked down on the much silhouette player addressing him, wondering why this guy had been chosen to do the tipoff. "If I don't get the ball before you, please don't be disappointed. I'm a good player." He continued nervously, confusing Dick somewhat.

"Uh...yeah, sure." Dick responded, not sure what to say to such a remark. Fin really wasn't that sure if his abilities, just like he said. How did someone like this become a starter? "Anyway, let's have a good game."

Fin nodded and made a timid sound of agreement as he shook Dick's hand, then the referee threw the ball up for the tipoff and blew the whistle. Dick jumped well, gaining good height, but then Fin shot past him through the air, turning around to face our team as he did so. "How'd he jump so high so quickly?" Dick thought to himself, surprised. "And now he's going to hit the ball our way? What's he thinking?"

Dick's question was soon answered. Fin hit the ball out of the air and towards our team with his left hand, it travelling at an incredible speed and bouncing back up before any of us could get a hand on it. The path it took after that shocked all of us into silence. It flew back up into the air after the bounce, reaching all the way to the other end of the court and hitting the backboard, consequently falling through the hoop. The game was barely two seconds in and already we were losing 00:03.

"That's ridiculous!" Stephen exclaimed, unable to keep his shocked thoughts in his head.

"He hit it all the way to the other end of the court with one hand..." Sam mumbled in disbelief as he slowly walked over to retrieve the ball.

"The game just started and they've already scored a three pointer..." William also mumbled, looking back over his shoulder.

"So that's why he turned around and faced the wrong way during the tip off, he knew he would score." I thought to myself, equally amazed.

"What kind of player are you to be able to do that?!" Dick asked Fin somewhat frantically, desperately wanting to know the secret behind it.

"I just did what the captain told me, I didn't know it was gonna go in." Fin replied, nervously fiddling with his fingers and averting his eyes. He really hadn't known the ball would go in, he had just done what he had been ordered to with absolute faith in his captain. Dick looked back over his shoulder at Jack, who stood in the centre of the court. What kind of captain could tell one of his players to do such a thing with absolute certainty it would work?

By time Sam had retrieved the ball and was standing ready to get it back into play, Jack was not far in front of him, ready to steal it away. Sam tried to dribble to the right an then crossover to the left to trick him, but Jack was unfazed and stole the ball while it was in midair between Sam's hands, then turned around unfathomably quick and ran off with it. "So fast!" Sam thought in amazement.

Jack's advance was quickly blocked by our point guard William, but he simply passed the ball behind his back to the left of the court, where Cal was. He caught it and drove forward, his wide build giving him no problem getting past Stephen, who was almost knocked aside by his forceful drive. While he went forward, Jack spun and got around William, then continuing to move forward. Cal saw him near the centre and tried to pass to him, but I got in the quickly and intercepted the ball with one hand, then redirecting it back to Stephen. "Nice pass!" He praised before reaching up high and throwing the ball in a long range and unreachable overhead pass to Dick, who rushed forward and churned the team on.

He was promptly blocked by Dom and tried to get past, to no avail. No matter which direction he tried to go in, Dom was way too fast on his feet, being able to move and get in his way unbelievably swiftly. Since Dick couldn't get past him no matter what he tried, he passed behind his back to me, I redirecting the ball to Sam, who was still close to the hoop. He jumped up as high as he could with two hands on the ball, intending on shooting it in from close range, but Reg was suddenly jumping up in front of him and gaining a lot of height. He smacked the ball out of Sam's hands with very little effort, Fin catching it in his right hand and turning to face William, who was now right in front of him. Amazingly, Fin cross the ball over into his left hand and leant that way, sending a curving pass around William and right into Jacks hands.

"Shit!" William cursed loudly, turning to chase after Jack. Before he could even get a chance to catch up though, he had already scored another three pointer, making the score 00:06. Jack was incredibly quick agile, having no problem getting the ball to where it needed to be. As we prepared to get the ball back into play, I walked up to Sam as he took his position under the net and said to him, "Hey, let me get the ball back in. There's something I want to try."

"Alright, here you go." Sam responded, looking somewhat reluctant even when he threw me the ball and I took his place under our hoop.

When I was ready to go, Jack was right in front of me and ready to steal the ball. Knowing how fast he was, I concluded my only choice would be to dribble around him, a pass would only be intercepted. He also had his hands positioned in front of the gap in-between his legs, so the strategy we had used to get past Aidan wasn't an option either. Seeing everything in slow motion, I started dribbling, crossing the ball over from my left hand to my right and felt Jack's eyes on the ball as I did so. To get it out of his field of vision, I passed it to my left hand again behind my back. When the hand came out in front of me again and I tried to go forward however, he effortlessly stole the ball from my hands and scored another three pointer, raising the score to 00:09. Cheers erupted from their side of the hall, the small amount of people watching making a surprising amount of noise.

"Damn, he's quick." I scowled, wiping sweat from my brow as the rest of the team came over to discuss what to do.

"I'll go on getting the ball in this time, he's too fast for you." William suggested, planning to use his skill as a point guard to plan a way past Jack's swiftness.

"That sounds like a good idea to me, your eyes are probably our best bet at finding a way past him." Dick agreed, nodding his head.

"Please Captain! Let me try again!" I begged almost desperately, wanting my teammates to be able to rely on me. "I can get past him this time!"

"What if you don't?" Stephen argued. "He'll score again and will be even further behind."

"Hey, come on, he can do it." Sam said, defending my side of things. "Give him one more chance."

After a moment of silent consideration, Dick came to a decision. "It is true that you're one of the quickest footed on the team...fine, one more chance. Don't let me down."

I had no intention of doing so, I had a plan in mind. Jack was fast, but against a well executed fake, only superhuman reflexes could help him if he fell for it. Taking position under the hoop and seeing him there again, I spoke to him. "I'm gonna get past you this time."

"We'll see, Clayden." He responded with a slight chuckle, as if he thought my persistence amusing. The game had only just started, there was plenty of time for a comeback. Just like before, I crossed the ball over from my left hand to my right, then passed back to my left behind my back. Everything went in slow motion as I brought my hand forward, this time able to see Jack reaching for it, his hand moving faster than everyone else's in the slow motion.

Just before his fingertips touched the ball, I turned around and put my back to him, clutching the ball to my chest with both hands. I then got around to Jack's left side and as his momentum kept him going the other way and used the opportunity to speed past him. I heard him curse as I went, getting to the half court line in a marvellous fast break before Dom got in front of me. I knew his quick footing would make it difficult to get past him, so I stepped to the right in order to make him think I was going that way, then passed to my left.

Dick caught the ball as he ran past, getting to the outside line in no time at all, but then Reg appeared in front, barely having to jump to knock the ball out of Dick's hands as he went for the shot. "This guy's so tall that it's nearly impossible to get a shot past him!" Dick thought himself whilst he scowled annoyedly.

Cal was the one that got hold of the ball after that, he immediately turning and running towards the hoop. "This is my unstoppable drive! Go ahead and try to block me!" All his boasting was for nought though, as I came in low and speared the ball out of his grape with one hand, sending back behind him.

Dick caught the ball but was still aware of Reg standing right behind him, so instead of shooting he passed left to William. Reg was ready to turn and stop the next shot, but he then realised Stephen was on his side, blocking his turn. "A screen?" He exclaimed in his own head, watching as Dick ran behind Stephen where Reg couldn't stop him and caught the ball as it was passed back by William. He then began his jump and aimed his shot, but Fin jumped up in front of him, desperately trying to stop the ball, but still looking quite unsure of himself.

"I've seen how high he can jump and how quickly, now I can adapt to it!" Dick thought to himself, then leaned back into a fadeaway and shot the ball high over Fin's head, who looked quite distressed to say the least. The ball went cleanly through the hoop, scoring our first points of the match and putting the score up to 03:09. "Yeah!" Dick cheered triumphantly, pumping his arms by his sides in excitement. The rest of us were just as pleased, each celebrating in our own way.

[Stop Music]

"The way they're cheering, you'd think the game was over." Reg commented from afar, standing with the rest of his team as they contemplated what to do next.

"Um...I'm sorry...I couldn't stop him..." Fin nervously apologised, bowing his head politely and shaking.

"It's okay, I'll take care of number three. He won't be able to get past my footing." Dom promised, patting the much smaller player on the shoulder to reassure him.

"The question is what we do about number six?" Cal said, but there was no worry in his voice. "He's proven he's fast enough to get past most of us and steal the ball with ease, he's a problem."

"Don't worry about number six, I'll mark him." Jack told his teammates with a game face on, looking right at me as I smiled with Sam. "He's mine."

"You be careful with that one, he's much quicker than he looks." Aidan advised from the bench, drawing the attention of his new team as he sat there. "When are you gonna sub me in so I can get a second chance to beat him?"

"Not yet. We'll save you for later." Their coach, a thickly built man in a suit answered. "For now, Jack can deal with number six. We'll centre our attacks around Reg and Cal."

Tension was filling the air as Fin took the ball under the hoop and got ready to restart gameplay, all of us could feel that the other team was getting serious. It was as if they had been taking it easy before, but had quickly realised they wouldn't be able to do so against us. Fin dribbled in one spot for a bit, indecisively looking to each of his teammates as Dick stood a ways in front of him. He then suddenly leaned to the left, Dick also going that way to intercept the pass. Unfortunately, Fin used another curving pass to get the ball around Dick's reach and safely into Cal's hands. Dick tried to turn around and follow, only be tightly blocked by Dom, who he knew would be difficult to get past because of his footing and scowled.

Cal didn't hesitate to head for the other hoop, running with haste. As Sam moved to get in his way, he simply chuckled. Moving up on his blind spot, I reached my hand out to knock the ball away so Sam could get possession, but before I could get close enough, Jack was in front of me. "You're my mark, Clayden." He said to me seriously. "You aren't getting anywhere near the ball." I couldn't help but respond with a displeased frown.

Sam was still coming up in front of Cal, who grinned toothily and warned, "I couldn't pull off my unstoppable drive before because of your friend back there, but now that Jack's on him, you can't stop me!" Despite Sam being in front of him, he kept going forward, dribbling with force.

Sam was ready to block him or even steal the ball, but then felt butterflies in his gut. His knees and lower legs went weak and started to tremble, his entire body being overcome by nervousness. What was happening to him? Before he knew what was happening, he was stepping back and clearing the way for Cal, surprised by his own movements. "Why'd I step back?! I feel like I didn't do it, but I did!" Sam thought to himself, panicking at his sudden lack of control over his body. It was as if his subconsciousness had gotten scared and ordered him to back off. Consequently, Cal got the dunk, shoving it in with force and upping the score to 03:11.

Play began again quickly, I once more being allowed to take the duty of getting the ball in. I stood under our hoop and stared determinately at Jack as he stood in front of me, the tension in the air rising as everyone waited to see who would come out on top this time around. Just like the previous time I crossed the ball over and passed it behind my back, then turned around and went to run past. This time however, Jack was in front of me. Instead of falling for the trick like he had the last time, he had predicted that I would use the same tactic and gone the other way to stop me. He didn't hesitate to knock the ball out of my hands, Fin catching it and sending it straight up into the air next to the hoop, Cal dunking it and the score changing to 03:13.

We were really in trouble. We were ten points behind and the point gap was only going to widen if we didn't do something. I could see Ben squeezing his hands together on the bench, frowning at the situation. I knew that even if he didn't play, he'd feel badly if we lost.

William took the ball this time around, dribbling it by our hoop as his eyes surveyed the environment. Reg was positioned in front of him and would probably reach if he tried an overhead pass from where he was, so he instead passed right to Stephen, intending for him then to pass to me and use that to around Reg. When Stephen looked in my direction however, I was being closely marked by Jack and would have no chance of catching the ball. With that in mind, Stephen instead jumped up went for an overhead pass, throwing the ball before Reg could reach over and steal it. The ball flew high, finally beginning to fall over Dick and Dom's heads, who both jumped. They cried valiantly as they reached for the ball, but then Sam caught it first, getting in front of them in case Dom managed to reach it.

Sam then took the ball around them and got inside the shooting zone, Fin jumping in front from the side in a desperate attempt to stop the coming shot. Sam didn't shoot immediately though, he instead spun to the side and then shot, the ball gliding past Fin's hand and bouncing off of the backboard into the hoop. We all cheered for him as the score changed to 05:13. We were no longer double digits behind.

To my great shock when I noticed it from afar, Fin's face had suddenly turned very serious, even a little angry. He had the ball in his right and before anyone could stop him he threw it around our defenders in a curve, expertly passing it to Jack, who I got in front of. Jack sported a confident smirk however and bounced the ball to my side. My attention was drawn to it and he used that opportunity to spin past and throw the ball to Reg, who's height allowed him to easily make the shot from the three point line, he having moved back as soon as Fin had gotten the ball. The score changed to 05:16, once again we were ten points behind. The few people in the crowd cheered in their favour as they smiled at them and raised their fists cockily, our team starting to lose moral.

"Damn it...this is what it's like...a truly strong team..." Ben muttered to himself from the bench as he hung his head and started to get emotional. A saw a single tear fall.

"Don't worry, Ben." I told him, walking over to the edge of the court and addressing him. He looked up at me with an upset look in his eyes. I told him, "We can beat them yet."

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. Chapter 7- Comeback

Through The Hoop

Chapter 7

Comeback

 **Okay, here's the next chapter. I'm about to finish writing chapter 12, so that's how far ahead I've gotten so far. They'll all be posted soon enough.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/RZN6IZbpRdA [Kuroko No Basket OP 1]

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

The first quarter soon ended with any incident, the score settling at 07:25. We were a good deal behind and, if the opposing team kept playing like they were, this would turn into a one hundred point match in their favour. During the two minute break, we all gathered around the bench to discuss our tactics.

"We need to find a way to put a stop to their attacks, or they'll widen the point gap even further." Dick said, scratching chin in thought as the rest of us worryingly sat there.

"Captain, sub me in already, I can help." Ben pleaded, looking ready to go, but his injury was still very much there.

"With your condition, I'm saving you for as long as I can." Dick refused, shaking his head defiantly. "I'll wait until the end of game the to put you in, if I have to at all."

Ben grumbled in response, but reluctantly accepted our captain's decision. After another few seconds of thinking, Dick ordered, "William, Stephen and Sam will concentrate on defence, we'll revolve our attack around me and Olly."

We didn't really know what Dick was thinking, but we knew he probably had something in mind, so we all went along with his plans. When play resumed and the second quarter began, we were in possession to start, William making his way up the court. Being blocked by Reg, he passed in my direction, only for Jack to intercept, still not giving up on being my mark. As he turned to run towards our hoop however, I swiped my hand past him, knocking the ball back out of his hands and into mine. "You shouldn't forget about me just because you have the ball." I teasingly advised as his eyes widened in shock, then turning and passing to Dick as he ran forward, he taking a shot from the outside line once he saw Dom coming to stop him. The shot was forced however, and bounced off the rim without going in.

"Shit! Rebound!" Dick warned as he saw the ball drop, but none us were near and Cal got the ball in both of his large hands, dribbling forward forcefully. "It's the unstoppable drive!" Dick warned again, knowing what was coming. Just as he thought, Stephen and Sam both stepped back when Cal neared them and let him dunk the ball, raising the score to 07:27. We were twenty points behind, morale was low.

"I don't get what happens when he uses his drive." Sam frowned, having been thwarted by it again. "Every time he charged towards me, I step away without even realising."

"It's psychological warfare. I know how it works now I've seen it twice." William explained, coming over to us. We expected no less of our point guard than seeing the magic behind the enemies plays. "When he dribbled towards you, he does it so aggressively that your brain acts on instinct and makes you back off for your own safety, allowing him to score without interference. Like I said, it's psychological warfare. If you put your mind to it, concentrate on not backing down, it won't work on you."

We all took that into consideration as the ball was put back into play, Cal catching it from the side and rushing forward. He planned to use his unstoppable drive again and Stephen and Sam could feel their bodies wanting to run away from the vicious looking predator in front of them, but they overrode the feeling and stepped in his way, gritting their teeth as they disobeyed their natural instinct. "What? They didn't back off?" Cal thought to himself in shock as he stopped before he fouled them both. "Did they figure it out? Even if they did, how did they resist it?"

"Cal, here!" Jack called to his confused teammate as he ran past, catching the ball as it was halfheartedly thrown to him. He jumped up to shoot, but unbeknownst him, Sam had rushed over and left Stephen to handle Cal. Sam pushed with his knees and jumped up incredibly high, smacking the ball out of Jack's hands before he took the shot.

"That's why I put Sam on defence." Dick quietly muttered to me so the opposition wouldn't hear. "I saw his abilities in the practice match we played, he's an adept jumper. On defence or offence, he can jump incredibly high. It's all in his knees."

Dick caught the ball as it came back down, turning around and running for the other hoop. Dom got in his way and he knew he wouldn't be able to get past, so he passed to me on his side, I running forward. "Go, Olly!" He cried as he tried to get past Dom, only to be stopped by his footing.

As I neared the hoop, Fin appeared in front of me. It was just me and him, a one on one situation, our backup way behind us. I could hear his teammates cheering for him to stop me as mine cheered for me to get past him. I went into a shootout position, Fin jumping quickly and yelling, "I won't let you do that!" I hadn't yet jumped however and dribbled to the side before doing so, Fin still being in the air when a shot the ball past him and scored, bringing the score up to 09:27. My team cheered loudly for me when the ball went in, morale suddenly spiking.

When the ball went back into play, we kept the same strategy under our belt. Cal once again rushed toward the hoop and was blocked by Sam and Stephen despite using his drive, then he passed to Jack as before. Jack jumped up to take the shot and Sam jumped in front once again, continuing to show off his innate jumping ability. This time however, Jack twisted his wrist and passed to Reg on the right, who bent his knees to get ready for a jump shot. Stephen was in front of him but wouldn't be able to jump nearly high enough to stop the tall player's shot, but had an idea when William ran back and joined him. He kneeled low to the ground with his back facing the air, then William put a hand on his back as he jumped and used it to push himself up further, smacking the ball of out Reg's hands and into mine.

Wasting no time, I got into the middle of the court and tried to run up closer to the hoop, only to be blocked by Dom. Even with my speed, he moved to block me every time I tried to get past, so I had another idea. I passed behind my back to Dick on my left, who instantly jumped up and shot the ball. Fin was there though and jumped up quicker than ever, his fingertips tapping the ball and affecting it just enough to make it miss. It bounced on the rims for a second before going up again, then fell through and scored three points for us. The score was now 12:27, we were starting to catch up.

"Damn it, they scored two in a row! Could this actually be a comeback?" Cal scowled as their team grouped up on their side of the court to discuss what to do next.

"Maybe now we should consider getting Aidan in..." Fin suggested, slightly worried about how their captain might respond to such an idea.

"No, not yet." Jack stubbornly responded, looking more fired up than ever. "Pass the ball to me whenever you have the chance, the rest of concentrate on defence."

We noticed an immediate change in the atmosphere when play resumed. Dom stole the ball from William as he worked his way up the court, all of us surprised that our point guard had been defeated. Dom then passed straight to Fin, who made an overhead pass to Jack. I got in front of Jack before he got to the hoop, but noticed a different look in his eye, like he was finally going all out. He did a fast double crossover between his hands, I struggling to keep an eye on the ball. He then feinted to the right, I going that way to stop him, but turned and went left instead. I managed to get between him and the hoop again and he stood right in front of it, but his height was too much for me to reach to when he jumped and he scored to make the score 12:29. We weren't closing the point gap because we couldn't stop Jack. We had strategies to stop the others, but Jack was way too fast.

When the ball was back in play, Jack quickly stole it and once again ran towards the hoop. Once he was there, me and Sam double teamed him from in front, hoping two people would be enough to stop him. He jumped again once more, me and Sam doing the same and raising our arms up to block the shot. Jack however, leaned back as he jumped and then shot a high level fadeaway, sending the ball high over our hands and into the net. The score gap widened to 12:31.

A minute later, Jack came in for a shot once again, having been passed the ball by Fin. He rushed forward, easily breaking past me and then coming face to face with Sam. He jumped and coaxed Sam into doing the same, then leaned back into another fadeaway shot. This time he had made a mistake though, he'd forgotten about me again. Now he was low enough that I could reach the ball, so I caught it when he shot, sticking my hand out in front of him from his left side. "This is your problem, you always assume I won't be able to stop you, but I can."

I then ran off with ball, Jack not able to get back to a straight standing position quick enough to stop me. I passed to Dick, who jumped up from on the centre line and it into form. "He's going to take a shot from there?!" Jack exclaimed, trying to score from that far was a ridiculous target for any player. To make the likelihood of making the shot even less, Reg jumped up in front, only having to get up a tiny bit for his tall body to reach the height Dick's shot would probably reach. In a miraculous stroke of skill however, Dick leaned back, aiming the ball high.

"He's copying Jack's fadeaway?!" Fin exclaimed, being too far to do anything about it. Just like Jack had earlier, Dick leant back and shot the ball in a high arc over Reg's head, who had neglected to jump to a height at which he would able to stop the shot, having been sure his size would enough. The shot was still going from the centre line though and started to dip down before reaching the basket. Jack's team thought it would miss and let their guard down, but then I came in. I had kept running after passing to Dick and was now right underneath the ball, at a range where it would be impossible for me to miss. Jumping up and readying my hands into a shooting form, I caught it in mid air and threw it into the hoop, raising the score to 14:31.

"Nice shot." Me and Dick both said to each other as he passed as smacked our hands together in a quick high five. The opposing team still looked shocked by the play, unsurprisingly, since throwing the ball right into another players hands took incredible accuracy and luck. There were are number of ways it could've gone wrong.

Suddenly growing mad at our persistence, Jack soon got the ball and charged forward again. He forced his way past me at top speed, almost knocking me over and getting a foul in his haste. When he reached Sam, he pushed as hard with his legs as he could and jumped up, Sam doing the same. This time their hands were level, Jack having reached just as high as Sam. He saw the shot would be blocked though and leaned back into his third fadeaway, watching me closely out of the corner of his eye. He predicted I would come around the left side and stop the shot, so when he saw my feet move he instead passed to the left where Cal was waiting. His eyes widened in disbelief when I went round to his right and intercepted the pass, immediately dribbling down the court once it was safe in my hands.

I was stopped promptly by Dom and, after a quick few seconds and trying to get around him, knew he was way too quick on his feet for me to break past. Instead I passed to Dick on my left, who was being marked by Reg. The two of them jumped up with fire in their eyes, but as Reg went, Dick leaned back and shot yet another fadeaway. This time he was shooting from closer and the ball went clean through the hoop, upping the score to 16:31.

For a moment, Jack's team stared in a combination of wonderment and worrying. After that, our play levelled up. Every time Jack came towards our hoop, me and Sam used our double team to stop him. Cal's unstoppable drive wasn't working anymore, Reg could be blocked William and Stephen's special boost jump and Dom had no offensive talent whatsoever. The only one left who was somewhat of a threat was Fin, but his nervousness made him miss shots and fall into traps all over.

Jack came forward with the ball and tried to crossover to confuse me, but I knocked the ball out of his grip as he broke past. Dick took the shot and made a clean three pointer once again. Sam blocked the next shot from Jack all on his own, jumping high to stop it. Even when the other members of his team tried to help, they couldn't. Cal tried to break past William but couldn't no matter which way he tried to go, when he passed to Reg Stephen knocked away the ball before he could even jump. Dick scored another three pointer, I scored a shot after him. Our points kept rising and rising as the second quarter continued, the opposing team not able to get a single shot in. Sam scored some lay ups, William and Stephen made a three pointer each and more close range shots. It was the greatest comeback, the greatest feeling, we were buzzing and that adrenalin made us stronger players.

With two minutes and thirty seconds remaining in the second quarter, the score at 27:31, the other teams coach called a time out. We took the opportunity to catch our breath and see what they would do. "Jack, I'm subbing you out for Aidan." The coach declared as the team sat on the bench and recovered.

"What?! No?! Let me stay in a bit longer!" Jack protested, hunching over and panting but wanting to give up. "I can beat them, I just need to go a little faster!"

"You're already going fast, idiot. That's not enough." Aidan told him, getting up from the bench and flexing his arms. "You're already being double teamed, one of them is getting better and better at jumping and the other is almost as fast as you. No matter how hard you try, one of the two will always stop your shots."

"But...I don't want to lose to them!"

Jack responded, looking down at his feet angrily.

"I know you don't, but you're getting too worked up about it." Aidan said sincerely. "You won't get past them with such a reckless attitude, so take a break, calm yourself down. I'll hold the court until you get back."

Reluctantly, Jack bowed his head and allowed Aidan to take his place, giving him a half hearted high five as he passed. The players then filed back onto the court, taking their positions for the throw in, which would first go to their side.

"Hey, you play good." Aidan praised Dick as the two of them stood side by side near the edge of the court, each of them prepping to catch the ball when it got thrown in. "I'm really impressed you managed to beat down Jack, especially Olly and Sam. They've come far in just two weeks."

"Save the sweet talk." Dick responded sternly, his eyes on the ball. "I don't care whether you think we'd really good or bad, I'm going to lead my team to victory."

"Tis only a practice match, captain." Aidan said mockingly, but then sighed. "I agree with you though, I came here to win, to prove I'm better than you lot...Jack really wants the victory too..."

Music: http/youtu.be/WU8c0frSuKQ [Kuroko No Basket OST- Triple Team]

When the whistle was blown and the ball thrown back in, Aidan got a hand in front of Dick and secured the ball, going behind him to move forward. "Defence!" Dick called out, warning us that he was coming.

First Aidan faced me, determined to prove who was the better player. He skirted from side to side on his feet for a moment, testing my reflexes. "He's even quicker on his feet than I remember, but I recognise these movements." Aidan thought to himself as he observed. "The way he shifts and turns his feet, it's like Jack's style. Did he copy it?" Feeling content with the information he had gathered, he dribbled hard to the left, sending the ball over that way and drawing my attention to it. While I looked that way, he got around my other side and grabbed the ball from behind me, rushing forward before I could turn.

When he reached Sam, he didn't think much of the defence and jumped up, intending to throw the ball in with one hand. Sam pushed hard on his knees and jumped up as well, reaching Aidan's height with no problem at all. "Could he always jump like this?" Aidan wondered to himself. "I don't remember seeing it in the last game."

Sam knocked the ball away just as Aidan took the shot, it barely leaving his hands before being sent back into mine. I travelled up to the centre line before being blocked by Dom in front and noticing Aidan behind me. I passed sideways to Stephen before he caught up, he doing an overhead pass to try and get the forward to Dick. This time though, Reg jumped up and grabbed the ball in both hands before it came down. He threw it to Fin, so high that Dick couldn't stop it, then Fin called out to Aidan before doing another curving pass that got past all our defenders.

Aidan was then faced with Sam once again, both of jumping and crying out valiantly. When he the peak of his jump, Aidan decided against shooting straight away and instead threw the ball down so that it went under Sam's legs and bounced up behind him. He then got behind Sam, who was still in the air because of his massive jump, and dunked the ball in.

Two minutes later, the whistle went to signal the end of the first half and the start of the ten minute break. The score was settled 31:34, we had a good chance to catch up.

We wouldn't ever have expected the rest of the game to be as hard as it was.

END OF CHAPTER


	8. Chapter 8- We Can Adapt

Through The Hoop

Chapter 8

We Can Adapt

 **This chapter has a lot of cool action in it and also shows the first bit of the first fantasy power in this fanfic. Nothing too crazy, just a small power designed to help with plays. Well...nothing too crazy yet...hehe...**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/RZN6IZbpRdA

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

The score was 31:34 in the

favour of the opposing team, both teams coming back onto the court for the start of the second half. We hadn't had much to say to each during the ten minute break since if we kept playing like we had during the second quarter, we'd win for sure. We couldn't have possibly predicted what happened next though and that made the game much harder for us.

Aidan stood near the edge of the court with Dick again, waiting for the ball to be thrown in while both teams positioned themselves strategically around the two. Dick couldn't help that think that Aidan was looking quite smug, as their talk in the ten minute break had been much more productive than ours.

Music: http/youtu.be/g5I5a5Pyvok [Kuroko No Basket OST- Stalemate]

Just like the previous time, Aidan reached in front of Dick and grabbed the ball as it was thrown in. Dick called out to us for defence but Aidan has already sped around him and passed to Cal, he came up on Sam and Stephen as he went towards the hoop. "It's the unstoppable drive again!" Sam thought to himself, knowing that he could beat it once more as he had many times during the second quarter.

"Don't think you can stop me this time, we've adapted!" Cal warned as he kept going forward, bouncing the ball up and down in his hand. "This time, you're facing the unstoppable drive..." Once he was close to Sam, who moved to step in front of him, he then crossed it over into his left hand and dribbled once, as hard as he could. The ball made a loud bang when it hit the ground, Sam feeling his feet involuntarily trip backwards, he almost falling over as he stepped back. "V2!" Cal finished gloriously.

"The unstoppable drive V2?!" Stephen thought to himself in a panic, although still stepping forward determinately to try to stop Cal. Cal simply crossed the the ball over back into his right hand however, the following bounce doing the same to Stephen as it had done to Sam. It was so forceful his body almost leapt back out of subconscious fear, allowing Cal to get past easily. He then jumped up and grandly dunked the ball through the hoop, upping the score to 31:36.

We all stared in shock as the ball fell down. The play that we had all gotten used to and knew how to defeat had been kicked up a notch, meaning none of us could now handle its ferocity. "The bouncing of the ball near our feet makes our subconsciousness even more afraid and even more likely to want to back off." William analysed, looking greatly worried. "He's upped the effectiveness of his move, but how did they think of it?"

Sam took the ball in from under our hoop, quickly passing to Stephen upon being blocked by Aidan. Stephen was then blocked by Cal and was forced to to pass right to Dick as he ran up the middle, reaching the outside line in no time at all. He was blocked by the extremely tall Reg again but knew how he could get a shot past him, then leaned back into a fadeaway and threw the ball up high. We all though it would go right over Reg's hand, but this time he jumped high enough to knock it back down, shocking us all. "Now that I'm finally jumping as high as I can instead of just relying on my tallness, I can stop your silly shots!" Reg declared proudly as Fin caught the ball and performed a curve pass to Cal.

"Unstoppable drive!" Cal announced again as he bounced the ball once right next to Sam's feet, resultantly causing him to trip backwards and barely stay standing. Cal past but was too far on the right side to dunk it himself, so he instead passed to Aidan, who quickly dunked it for two points and put the score up to 31:38.

"They're a lot better than they were before, what happened?" Dick questioned out loud, just as shocked as the rest of us to see such sudden improvement.

"Aidan gave us quite the half time talk." Reg answered as he jogged past to get into his position. "You shouldn't have thought the same old tricks would work against us for the entire game, we can adapt."

Dick scowled at that, trying to brainstorm a way that we could get back the flow of the game, but alas he could not. He considered calling for a time out. Play resumed when Fin caught the throw in, then leaning to the left to throw a curved pass around William. Before it reached Cal though, I raced forward as fast as could and managed to just barely smack the ball back in William's direction with my fingertips, who caught it safely in both his hands. While Fin was stunned by shock, I got around William and went up through the middle, he passing to me as I ran. I was immediately faced with Aidan, stopping to think things through.

Using my eyes to see his movements in slow motion, I did a crossover to the right behind my back and moved that way slightly to bait Aidan in that direction. The trick worked, he leaping desperately that way to stop me. I then dribbled the ball the other way while he was still going, then shot the ball past him and scored two points to make the score 33:38.

"Nice shot!" Everybody else on our team cheered for me as I turned to face them, Aidan looking annoyed by the fact that I had managed to get past him. He put the ball back into play quickly, surprising us all as he passed the ball to Dom.

"He's on offence?!" Dick exclaimed as Dom sped towards him. Dick held his arms out wide and ran alongside him, trapping him against the edge of the court. Dom then used his quick footing for a new purpose, dribbling backwards and spinning around Dick to get on the inside. He then went forward for a little while before passing to Reg, who jumped up for a shot. Sam pushed hard on his legs to jump up, but Reg was way too high up when he put his all into the jump and so scored a three pointer. The score went up to 33:41, we were almost 10 points behind again.

"This is ridiculous. Just when we thought we'd beaten them they adapted to our plays." Dick commented, starting to be doubtful that we could win as we gathered to strategise.

"Maybe we should just let them have the game, it's only a practice match after all." Stephen mumbled quietly, losing morale.

"No, we can't do that." I spoke up, all of their attention being drawn to me. Just like everyone else, I was sweating like mad, but unlike them, I was almost completely out of breath. "Even if it's only a practice game, we can't lose. Look over there." I then nodded in the direction of our bench, where Ben was holding his hands in praying position and fidgeting nervously. "We have to win, or he'll be upset."

"Yeah, but how?" Sam replied, wondering if I had any sort of plan.

"We just have to do what they did, adapt." I answered plainly, the others not quite understanding what I was getting at. "If we play with all our might and push ourselves to the limit, we can beat them. We play as a team and use everything we have, we'll win."

"We can adapt too."

Music: http/youtu.be/0DZhXlLBSBQ [Kuroko No Basket OST- The Feeling of Not Losing 2]

Play resumed shortly after, Fin grabbing the ball and attempting a curve pass that went around Dick easily. He didn't see me coming however, I grabbed the ball with my fingertips, leaning out and reaching as far as I could. I redirected back to the middle of the court as Fin watched in shock, Stephen catching it on his way past. He was faced with Reg as he reached the outside line, but was undeterred by his size. Holding his arms high above his head, Stephen threw the ball as if he was performing an overhead pass, even Reg not being able to jump high enough to stop it. The ball went high and then dropped down into the net, scoring three points for us and upping the score to 36:41. Voices could be heard from the medium sized crowd, "A three pointer?! They did it!"

A minute later, Dom used his quick footing for the offence again. He got the ball from near their hoop and reached me, using his footing to easily get around. He then forgot about me however and I knocked the ball out of his hand and back towards Sam. He turned his head with widened eyes just in time to see Sam score a layup and up the score to 38:41. More cheers erupted, even those who were families of the enemy team excited to see such play.

Getting the ball on the next throw in, Cal forcefully dribbled forward to use his better unstoppable drive, aiming to get Sam and Stephen out of his way with it. He bounced the ball near Sam's feet and then near Stephen's, but was surprised to see them both dart in front of him just a second after. "What?! It didn't work?!" He thought to himself, panicking slightly and going for the dunk. Sam jumped up in front of him, Cal forcing the dunk in but bumping into Sam as he did it.

"Foul! Charging! White four! One free throw! Basket doesn't count!" The referee called out after blowing his whistle, Cal's expression being absolutely priceless.

Dick took the free throw and of course got it in, upping the score to 39:41 as everyone cheered. A minute later, Aidan had the ball, dribbling it close to the floor in the centre whilst I stood in his way of the basket. I saw a new glint in his eye, like he was determined not to be defeated.

Music: http/youtu.be/UASJeC2EZTg [Kuroko No Basket OST- Drive]

Aidan set the ball bouncing towards my right with one bounce, I reacting instinctively to grab it. While I was still moving that way, he reached out and got a hold of it before I could reach, getting past my left with a burst of speed. He dribbled forward and was blocked by Dick, who stood there with his arms held out wide to defend. He seemed unconcerned however and bounced the ball under Dick's arm. Dick turned around in shock, his attention drawn straight to the ball, but Aidan used that moment to get around him and grab the ball once again, then dribble forward with it. "Shit! Defence!" Dick called out to us, seeing that Aidan was closing in on our hoop from the right side. When faced with Stephen, he faked to the left and then went to the right, being blocked by Sam as he stood just in front of the three point line at the edge of the court, diagonally to the hoop.

He next bent his legs and jumped, coaxing Sam to jump as high as he could to block the coming shot. Aidan however, had only jumped up a tiny bit, then landing and quickly jumping again as Sam came back down. He shot the ball with one hand, it bouncing off the backboard from the right and going through the hoop, the score rising to 39:44. "Woah, a three pointer from that angle?!" I heard someone in the crowd exclaim, quite rightly, it was quite the expert shot.

[Stop Music]

Trying to remain unfazed by the shot, Sam picked up the ball to resume play whilst Aidan walked backed to play defence. He sharply turned around however, when he saw me zip past him and receive the pass from Sam. I was in front of him within a second, the two of us facing off in a one on one situation.

Music: http/youtu.be/99iL1IzFAkY [Kuroko No Basket OST- Run and Gun]

As I stood in front of Aidan with the ball, he noticed something was different about me. He looked at my eyes and saw a ring of grey forming around the edges of them, like a border of fog. "What the hell is that?" He wondered to himself, then I started dribbling the ball. First I did a left to right crossover, Aidan's moving to intercept the ball as it neared my right hand. My eyes saw everything in slow motion, I saw his hand gradually getting closer to the ball and moved mine in response, knocking the ball back towards my left hand in one fluid motion. "How did he move his hand so fast?" Aidan thought in shock. "How did he even know I was going for the ball? I should've have been able to get it before he noticed."

The ball then went back into the palm of my left hand as everything continued moving slowly through my eyes, I holding it up above the ground with my tight grip. I brought my hand down fast, bouncing the ball as hard as I could so it went high over our heads. Aidan jumped to catch it, but I was more than prepared, seeing his feet shift in slow motion. I jumped up before he had even left the ground, bringing the ball back down as he went yo and dashing past him. He chased after me as soon as he landed, almost sandwiching me between him and Dom, but luckily being stopped by William.

Dom was sure he could prevent me from get past, still being majorly quick on his feet. Knowing this, I dribbled the ball right and moved my body that way, he shifting his feet and his body to block me. He got there in time, but I then dribbled the other way, he having to turn his feet extremely agilely to turn and block me from that side. Looking at the movements of his feet in slow motion, I got my right hand on the ball and brought it from left to right as if I was going to dribble that way, even shifting my feet in that direction. As he moved to stop me though, I kept moving my hand around to behind my back and dribbled it backwards a yard or two, forcing Dom to turn back quickly. This was too much quick changes for even his footing to handle however and he tripped up, fell over and lay on the floor as I stepped back, grabbed the ball and took the shot. I got it through the hoop perfectly, making the score 41:44. The opposing team couldn't believe a had gotten a shot past Dom, defeated his great footing. It was one thing to try to dribble past him, but to take a shot was incredibly brave.

Aidan scowled as the ball went through the hoop and landed on the floor, Fin picking it up as I jogged past Aidan and went back on defence to protect against the counter attack. "Slow motion eyes..." Dick whispered the our team in explanation. "He talked to me about it after the match against Aidan, saying he felt like things were moving slower than usual at some points. This must be the result of properly practicing it, it's full activation."

"Slow motion eyes? Sounds like something of out of a fantasy show." William responded doubtfully, not believing it at first.

"It's true, you'll see if you keep watching his eyes. You'll see them darting about super quick, taking everything in." Dick assured him. "He sees everything in slow mo, then makes players quicker than he'd normally be able to based on the movements of his opponents hands and feet. He can predict which way they'll dribble or how they'll try to take the ball."

As if to prove his point, I then easily intercepted the ball as Fin attempted to curve pass it around me to Aidan. "How?! How could he stop a curving pass?!" Fin nervously thought to himself, really starting to get worried. I wasted no time in shooting again, upping the score 43:44. Cheers erupted from even the opposing teams crowds, even their small numbers creating great noise as they got caught up on the excitement. The next time the ball came back into play, Fin passed to Aidan normally instead of trying to get the ball around me, I then abandoning marking him and moving back to defend the paint.

"Why'd he back off?" Aidan wondered suspiciously, knowing I was up to something. Nevertheless, he pressed forward, easily getting past Stephen and Dick with a couple of fakes and then reaching me again. Aidan knew that despite my newfound speed, I couldn't jump as high as he could and so he leapt up to take a one handed shot. Instead of trying to stop him, I instead stepped out of the way so Sam could reach, he having been positioned closely behind me. He of course higher than Aidan and knocked the ball away as he shot, sending it back to me as I got around behind him.

This time Reg came up in front of me and I knew I had to dribble around him, he was way too tall for me to get a shot over. Everything moved in slow motion, I seeing his feet positioned in a way that would allow him to go quickly in any direction, a smart move. Adapting quickly, I stepped back and jumped up whilst taking a shooting form, baiting Reg into jumping up to stop me. I then threw the ball down, bouncing it to Dick as he got close to the hoop. "Take the shot!" I yelled at him as he looked surprised that the ball had gotten into his hands. He did just that and scored us another two points to put us up to 45:44.

I glanced at the timer as Aidan received the ball again, just a couple of minutes left in the third quarter and we were in the lead. If we scored just a few more times, we could gain control the game. Glancing back, I saw Aidan coming up on my left side and turned to run that way, but was then blocked by Cal, a clever screen. Aidan ran past, I not having enough time to get past Cal. By the time I was going after Aidan, he had already reached Sam. He jumped up as Sam did, holding the ball high with one hand. Seeing Sam was going to block the shot, he leaned to the side and aimed carefully. "A formless shot?" I heard Dick exclaim. Formless shots are dangerous high level shots, the player loses all form and shoots loosely, but done well allows them to make tricky shots. Aidan did just that, throwing the ball around Sam and bouncing it off the backboard so that it went in the net. The score went to 45:46. We were back to being a point behind.

Once the ball was back in play once again, I quickly got possession and charged down the court, Cal sticking close to me but not being able to get the ball. When I neared the hoop and jumped up, both he and Fin jumped up to block the shot, their arms overlapping. Seeing I wouldn't make a normal shot, I let my right hand off the ball and held it in my left, then threw it high over their heads and clean through the hoop. "A formless shot?! He's copying my style now?!" Aidan thought to himself, slightly angry that I was doing so well. "No, he's changing it slightly, adding his own skill to it. He made slight adjustments while moving his arm forward during the throw, all to make sure it would go in. But who can do that in such a short amount of time?!"

[Stop Music]

After a mighty battle of run and gun action, me and Aidan scoring over and over in our fight to overtake each other, the score at the end of the third quarter was 50:51. All of our team were extremely worn out, me and Sam especially, but we still had ten minutes to go. We had to last for a little longer. I could see Sam's legs below the knee were shaking from the stress of multiple jumps and my eyesight was blurring, I having to blink every so often to set it straight. At that point, the two of us weren't even sure that we would be able to go until the end of the match, but when we looked over at the other side of the court we grew even more worried. On their team, Dom had been subbed out for another player, for Jack.

Jack and Aidan were on the court at the same time.

END OF CHAPTER 8


	9. Chapter 9- The Hardest Quarter

Through The Hoop

Chapter 9

The Hardest Quarter

 **Okay, this is the last chapter of this match. After this, the quality of the chapters goes up quite a bit, as I took a break and came back to writing it when I'd gotten better and knew more about basketball. Anyway, onto the chapter!**

Opening Music: http/youtu.be/RZN6IZbpRdA

(Shows a basketball rolling across the floor in slow motion)

(Shows sweat run down my cheek) (Shows me run forward and tap the ball)

(Shows me and the rest of the team on a basketball court with lots of people watching)

(I wipe my forehead on my shirt) (Shows William)

(Shows Dick)

(Shows Stephen)

THROUGH THE HOOP

Dakara itta janai ka!

(Shows my sitting on a little wall in front of the leisure centre)

Yowosa wo uri ni shitatte mai ni nanka!

(I look to my right and see Sam and Ben standing there with me) Susume ya shinai nda zenee!

(Ben eats a burger while Sam waves at me)

Hakanai jibun

(Shows the whole team exercising) enshutsu shitatte dare mo mu kandou!

(Shows all kinds of different basketball courts)

Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte.

(Shows me, Ben and Sam watching a basketball game)

Asu machiwabiru hikari ga aru! (Shows me practicing dribbling a basketball)

Tsuyogaru yowai jibun wo!

(Shows Dick catch the ball and long shot it)

Mitomera eru tsuyosa wo!

(Shows Jack and Aidan next to each other)

Hajimeru n da!

(Shows William score a three pointer)

Yareru mon sa!

(Shows Stephen catch the ball and pass it)

Sokoka a mae wo mui chatte! (Shows me and Sam bro fist) Aruke! Aruke!

(Me and Sam run down the court) Hashire! Hashire!

(Shows Dick watching the match) Nandodemo!

(I pass the ball behind my back) Chousi hazure no

(Stephen catches the ball) koe datte ii sa!

(Stephen runs alongside Aidan) Sore ga doushita n datte!

(Aidan steals the ball and scores) Sakebu nda ore no

(Shows me running around with the ball and then throw it behind my back)

banda! Can you do it?!

(The ball goes past Sam's head, but he reaches back and gets it) Suruto dou darou nani datte!

(Sam throws the ball)

Kowaku nanka

(William catches the ball and throws it)

naku nattenze!

(I catch the ball and throw it behind my back)

Kyou ga wagimida!

(Ben dunks the ball)

Can do it!

END

The score was 50:51, the final ten minutes of the game had begun. Aidan and Jack were now on the court at the same time. We could barely handle them separately, what would we do now that they were together? On top of that, we were all exhausted. My eyesight was beginning to blur because of my overuse of the slow mo, periodic blinks only just keeping the problem at bay. Sam's legs were shaking as he stood, multiple jumps having had their toll on his muscles. If we carried on using our abilities to the full, we'd tire even more and maybe get injured, but what else could we do? Against the two aces, we had no choice, no other way to win.

Music: http/youtu.be/hKwYIoiU2c0 [Kuroko No Basket OST- Fast Attack]

Jack received the throw in as the whistle was blown and wasted no time in rushing forward with the ball, Aidan close by for support as the rest of their team fanned out. I knew I was putting myself at risk to keep using my slow mo eyes, but I saw no alternative. Stepping forward and meeting Jack on the outside line, a grey line of fog circled around my iris, he seeing and being mediocrely surprised to see it was thicker than before. As he bounced the ball towards his left hand, I easily stole it and passed him on his right, seeing he wouldn't be able to turn that way in time. He looked shocked to see I had broke past him, and worried that I would score, as only one player now stood between me and the hoop. Fin.

Fin looked anxious, nervous. He was short, the same height as me, but short for a basketball player, so he likely wouldn't be able to stop a high shot. He saw my eyes and grey ever more worried when he realised I was using the slow motion again. He reached for the ball without thinking, then I took the opportunity to dash past him, scoring an easy layup for two points. The score changed in our favour at 52:51.

When the ball was back in play though, Jack got a hold of it and took it out of my reach before I could get over to him. He got away from me easily and came face to face with Sam, who he knew would be able to jump up and block his shot. Regardless, he jumped, Sam jumping as well, putting as much force as he could into his legs. It was a trick however, Jack leaned to left and passed the ball around Sam, Aidan catching it and scoring with a one handed throw. Sam winced when he landed, trying to ignore the pain in his legs as the score went up to 52:53. Every jump made it worse, soon he would barely be able to stand.

After that, Dick got a hold of the ball and tried to dribble forward, but couldn't get past Jack. He called out to Sam as he passed left, he receiving the ball and trying to go forward while Aidan stuck close to him. He almost tripped when a sudden pain struck his legs, nothing serious, but enough to make him stop. It was long enough that Aidan was able to sweep the ball into his hands and take a formless shot, which went in and changed the score to 52:56. Sam was too preoccupied by his legs to notice the cheering, he was seriously concerned about how much longer he could go on for.

Not much later, I was faced with Jack again as I approached the half court line. I knew I would have to use my slow motion sight to get past him, but when I started to, my vision immediately went blurry. All I could make out was his right hand moving, so I tried to go left, only for him to steal the ball and get around my left side. My teammates gasped in shocked to see that my slow motion had been beaten, but the truth was the slow motion itself hadn't worked. My vision had been so blurry that I was fooled by the slightest movement of his hand. Consequently, Jack scored a fadeaway shot over Sam, who once again jumped up and winced upon landing, this time almost crying out. His legs were extremely shaky and weak as the score went up to 52:58. He wouldn't last for much longer. Dick could see it, but he didn't know what to do about it. Ben's head was still injured, so we had no one to sub him out for.

"Those two aren't going to be able to keep it up for much longer, they're already faltering." William warned Dick, hoping the team captain would have some sort of plan.

"I know, but what can we do? There's no one to sub them out for." Dick regrettably replied, knowing his long time teammate would be disappointed.

"You don't have any plans?" William exclaimed, almost a little to loud, some of the opposing players turning their heads to listen in.

"I didn't say I don't have any plans, just not about what to do with those two." Dick corrected sternly, William seeming sorry that he had doubted him. "We've been in the team for longer than them, so let's show them what we can do, as their seniors."

Jack had overheard their conversation, standing not too far away with Jack. He had gathered that Sam and I were tiring, so he turned back to Aidan and gave a command. "Don't let up, they're close to the breaking point."

Music: http/youtu.be/RLhaSbIqDNk [Kuroko No Basket OST- Vanishing Drive]

Moments later, Aidan came forward with ball dribbling under his hand, quickly closing in on our hoop. He knew Sam would break after just a couple more jumps, so with only him in the way there was nothing stopping him from scoring. He threw the ball up high with one hand, Sam gaining less height than usual to do his weakened state, confident it would go in. His eyes widened however, when he saw William reach his hand in from the side as he jumped, grabbing the ball in mid air. William's eyes darted all over the court as he looked to see who was open, then knocked the ball back down to Dick, who began dribbling forward. Aidan and Jack were left in the dust near our hoop, the other three being the only ones in Dick's way.

"Don't worry if you're getting tired! You don't need to think we're counting on you alone to win to game!" Dick called out to me and Sam as he carried on down the court, shouting inspiring words. "If you're ever tired, injured, or just can't do it by yourself, we're here! Your seniors are here, those who have been in the team longer than you! Rely on us, your seniors!" By the time he has finished his speech, the captain was face to face with Dom. No one had yet gotten past him cleanly, but still Dick faced the quick footed defender with confidence. Seeing Stephen coming up close behind him, Dick passed back and moved away from Dom, as if he was letting his teammate take the shot. Stephen jumped up as if he was going to shoot, but instead performed his high overhead pass, sending the ball sailing over Dom's head. Dick, who had used the moment to get around the defender, swooped his arms up and caught the ball easily. Panicking, Dom spun round as Dick went to take the shot, his arm hitting against Dick's belly just as the ball left his hands.

Then came the call of the referee, after a blow of his whistle. "Foul! Holding! White 6! Basket Counts! One Free Throw!" He announced as Dick's shot passed through the hoop and changed the score to 55:58. We could hear the reserves in the bench and some of the leisure centre members muttering about it being an amazing four point play, not being able to help grinning at the sound of the praise.

Dick made the free throw flawlessly, boosting the score to 56:58. Now that we were only two points behind, our morale was boosted once again. With eight minutes thirty left on the clock, we had a good chance for a comeback. Our side of the small crowd cheered for us as Fin took the ball back into play, all of us fired up by it and feeling our energy suddenly and unexplainably refill.

[Stop Music]

Just as he had done many times before, Fin leant around William to perform a curving pass. As he threw the ball and the curve began, I ran to intercept it before it reached Aidan's hands, but noticed that things weren't going in slow motion. As hard as I tried, I couldn't activate my special eyes, consequently not being able to reach the ball before Aidan caught it. My teammates were stunned by the action, knowing that it meant I was tiring and that soon the tide of the match might turn sour, but had no time to reflect on it before Aidan came up the court. Dick tried to stop him with his arms held out wide, but Aidan simply motioned to the left to draw Dick that way, then went right instead, getting past easily. "A fake?!" Dick thought to himself in shock, surprised that it had been good enough to lower even his guard.

Aidan next met Sam, just before the hoop, and jumped without any hesitation. Sam gritted his teeth and fought through the pain in his legs to jump up too, but didn't reach nearly as high as Aidan had. Our team was once stunned to see our abilities waning as we grew tired, Aidan easily throwing the ball into the hoop with one hand and upping the score to 56:60. Their side of the stands cheered, even the small number of people that were being enough to create loud applause.

We were concentrating on Sam at that moment however, almost not caring at all what the score was. When he descended from his jump and landed, his feet gave way immediately, being too overused to keep him upright any longer. He immediately tumbled to the ground in a heap of limbs, his lower legs red hot with pain. We all rushed over to him immediately as the medical team came out to take a look at him. As we all looked on with concern, they concluded that the muscles in his legs were overworked and had been badly strained, then proceeded to put him on a stretcher and carry him off. We all huddled best our hoop to discuss what to do next, hoping he would be okay. We all looked worried, but the game wouldn't stop for one player.

"So now what do we do? We don't have anyone we can replace him with." Stephane commented worryingly. I was a little offended by the use of the word 'replace', but knew what he meant. We were down on players, would the game be forfeited?

"Without him to block their shots, we can't win even if we did have another fit player." William added grimly, we all knowing it to be true. "They'll keep scoring and scoring, until the point gap is too large for us to do anything about. We should just call a forfeit, it's only a practice match anyway."

I couldn't take that, I was still rating to go, I didn't want to give up. I didn't want to lose, I had no wishes to learn what that felt like. "We can still do this." I argued, the others looking at me doubtfully. "We'll have to go for a run and gun strategy, it's our only chance of winning. Non-stop shots and aggressive play to match their skill."

"Even so, we don't have a fifth player, which means we can't legally play." Dick reminded me, shooting down my plan.

"You have a fifth player." Came a voice from the side of the court, all of us looking to see that Ben had stood up and walked over to the line at the edge, his head still bandaged up but his eyes full of determination. "Let's win this."

Music: http/youtu.be/MqqgpQf4g0I [KnB OST- Unexpected]

"What's he doing on the court? I thought he was injured." Aidan wondered out loud as our team stepped back into place, Ben being at the front of our lines.

"It doesn't make a difference, we're still gonna win." Jack commented dryly in response, getting into position without a second thought.

I took the ball from under our to get it back in, moving forward as soon as the whistle was blown. I was quickly stopped by Jack and knew I wouldn't be able to do much against him without my slow motion eyes, so instead passed behind my back to Stephen on the left. When faced with Dom, he did all he could and performed a high overhead pass to William, who received it no problem. He was then marked by Fin, so he dribbled one way then passed the ball in the other direction. Fin wasn't able to react in time to intercept it and so Dick caught the ball. He was up against Aidan, both of them jumping up into the air. Aidan tried to reach up to the ball to stop the coming shot, but couldn't. "He's so tall!" He thought to himself in panic just before the ball was thrown, but he managed to stretch his hand scrape it with his fingers, altering it's course slightly. It consequently bounced off the rim without going through the hoop, Cal jumping up to catch the rebound, but Ben was there too. He jumped up higher and faster than Cal and dunked the the ball in with one hand, intimidating his opponent with his pure strength.

The whistle blew, the score changed to 58:60, our supporters cheered and applauded. The other team looked startled and annoyed, but play soon resumed. Fin easily got a curved pass around Ben to Jack, who sped off away from their hoop and towards ours, Dick and William moving to intercept his path. Behind him, Jack could see that Ben was staying close by the hoop, suggesting he was planning to dunk as soon as someone got the ball to him. "Not happening!" He thought to himself, swiftly stepping to the side to get past the two defenders in front of him. He had messed up though, as William easily speared the ball out of his grasp as he passed, I running out to grab it. I immediately went for the shot, completely open since their team had fully gone on the attack. As my eyesight faltered a little once again, I knew the shot would miss, but there was Ben. He jumped up from his post near the hoop and dunked the ball in to complete the play, upping the score to 60:60. Cheers were heard from our stands again, cries from the ones who were more knowledge about the sport awing over the impromptu alley oop.

[Pause Music]

"Nice dunk, Ben!" Dick called out as we reformed ready for play to be resumed, high giving each as we went along.

"Nice pass, Olly!" I heard Ben call out to me, I smiling in return and complimenting his dunk as well.

Aidan and Jack watched from their end of the court as they retrieved the ball and assessed the situation. They saw us grinning and congratulating each other on a great play, but their faces were stale and serious. "Hey, they're going to win if they keep up this momentum." Aidan warned.

"Then let's break the momentum." Jack replied. "If they want to go run and gun, we'll show them how it's done.

Jack rushed forward aggressively as soon as play resumed, eager to score enough points to demoralise us. He was once again met with Dick and William, but decided to play it a little differently this time around. This time he went around the side Dick was guarding, he being able to do fairly well to stop the approach with his lanky arms outstretched, but Jack then busted out his true speed. As Dick's left hand reached for the ball, he passed it to his right. As his hand changed direction and went for the ball again, Jack passed behind his back to his other hand once again, then broke past without a problem. All this happened within a matter of a second, it was almost a blur to those watching. When he was next faced with William, he jumped slightly to bait William to jump full force, then skirted around his side and took the shot, changing the score to 60:62.

Their side of the small stands cheered once again, even the few people making quite a noise. "Damn it, they took the lead again." Stephen snapped, his annoyance at the constantly changing tide of the game very apparent.

"Don't underestimate us, we'll win this match yet." Jack muttered to us as he made his way back to his position, giving a smug smile. We responded to it with confident smiles of our own, then the game ramped up in the final seven minutes.

Those seven minutes were harsh, for both sides. For every dunk that Ben was able to score once we got the ball to him, Aidan and Jack words together to score another. For all that time, the score stayed fairly even, neither team being able to take a big enough lead. By the time there was only a minute left in the game, the score was near tied at 72:70, we barely in the lead. We suspected however, that it wouldn't be long until that lead was once again taken from us.

Jack sped down the court at an incredible speed, the time left on the clock spurring him onwards. He easily got past Stephen with a well executed and speedy fake, then was faced with William. He knew the point guard would have a higher chance of intercepting the ball, so he passed left behind his back to where Cal was standing ready to receive. As the ball left his fingertips, William went as agilely as he could to reach it, but then Jack hit it with his other hand, sending it in the other direction to be caught by Aidan, who sped past our defenders until I was the only one left.

As he crossed the ball over from his right hand to hand to his left, I called upon my slow motion eyes for one last time, but was disappointed to see only blurs when they activated, meaning I couldn't stop the ball from being passed back to Jack, who had rushed forward and got the ball, shooting and scoring a three pointer while he was open. Their side of the stands cheered louder than before, although still quietly due to the lack of viewers, as the score changed to 72:73. In their eyes, the outcome of the game was settled, there was no way we could make a comeback in thirty seconds.

"Thirty seconds is plenty..." I thought to myself confidently, sticking out my hand behind me as a signal for William to give me the next pass. "Once more..." I said in my head, urging my eyes to work once more. "Once more!"

The second I felt the ball touch my fingers, I gripped hard and clutched it in my hand. I then bent my legs, everything going in slow motion as I finally managed to use my slow motion eyes one last time, hoping they would hold out long enough for me to complete the move. When I was ready, I pushed up with my knees and jumped into the air, arcing my arm back to prepare for the throw. Whilst in the air I saw the faces of the opposing team, their expressions a mix between fear that I would score doubt that I would be able to from where I was, the half way line. Slowly reaching the peak of my jump, I took advantage of my slow motion eyes to adjust my every movement, from the position of my fingers on the ball to the momentum of my arm as it began swinging forward. Suddenly breaking out of slow motion, I tossed the ball high and far, the changes I had made to my form in slow motion being enough to send it to the end of the court. Both my team and the other looked shocked as it came down right above the hoop, but I knew it wouldn't go in. My vision had blurred again just as I had taken the shot, affecting the trajectory ever so slightly.

As I suspected, the ball bounced off the backboard and then the rim before floating in mid air for a second. In that second, I saw the disappointed faces of my teammates and the smug smiles of our opponents, they being sure they had won, only three seconds remaining on the clock. Their expressions turned to stunned ones however, when Ben's hand reached up for the ball, he having jumped as soon as he had seen it miss. "How did he get there?!" Aidan wondered to himself, only just recalling that he had seen a shadow slip past him while he was distracted by me throwing the ball, but had dismissed it as nothing.

Ben's hand found the ball at the peak of his jump and gripped it tight, but Jack then jumped in from the side, having rushed in as soon as he knew there was a danger of us scoring. In the short time, he had only been able to jump in a way that allowed him to barely reach over with one hand, making for a weak block. When Ben brought the ball down, his dunk harshly knocked Jack's hand out of the way and pushed the ball through the hoop, it falling through the net hard and fast as Jack was knocked down onto his arse.

The buzzer sounded. The whistle was blown. The score was 74:73, in our favour. After a spilt second of stunned silence, our team and supporters bursted out in celebratory cheers. Our team members hugged and gave high fives, but Jack remained on the ground, staring in disbelief up at Ben.

"That was a great game, you've earned my respect, for sure." Aidan congratulated, walking over to us with a friendly attitude, not seeming too annoyed that he had lost. "After this game and the last, I've made up my mind." I wasn't sure what he was going to say next, staring confusedly at his fist as he stuck it out towards me. "Let me join your team!" He then pleased, surprising us all. "After seeing how strong you all are, I want to grow strong alongside you. I want to play alongside you! Will you let me?"

After a moment of thought, Dick stood next to me and replied, "Sure." He and Aidan then bumped fists, me doing the same with him after. Stephen, William and Sam soon came over and did it too, welcoming him on board.

After the welcoming was done, Aidan turned to look at Jack, who was now standing and staring down with Ben, and asked him, "Hey, are you gonna join too?"

Looking over with a slow turn of of his head as he continued to look deadly serious, Jack bluntly answered, "I'm not going to do that, I won't abandon my team. Remember, just because I lost today doesn't mean I'm not strong. Come see our game in the first round of the Spring tournament, and you'll see we're strong."

Following that speech, he promptly left the court without another word, his team accompanying him as they gave comforting words. After another few seconds, I mumbled, "Hey...we won..."

Those words were what made the team fully take in the truth of it, our victory. They all realised what it meant and smiled one by one, putting their hands in the middle one last cheer.

"All right!"

END OF CHAPTER

 **I'd also like to quickly mention that we were fast approaching being caught up with this, as in having all of the chapters currently written uploaded onto here. Once that happens, these'll probably be more of a once a week thing, as that's how long it takes me to write one chapter.**


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